By John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end “the madness”, prompting President Volodymr Zelenskiy to say that there could be no peace without guarantees.
Trump made his comments just hours after meeting Zelenskiy in Paris for their first face-to-face talks since Trump won last month’s U.S. election. Trump has vowed to bring about a negotiated end to the conflict, but so far has not provided details.
“Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, adding that Kyiv had lost some 400,000 soldiers. “There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”
“I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!” Trump added, referring to Russian President Putin.
Trump, in Paris for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, sat down with Zelenskiy on Saturday for about an hour, along with host President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump and Zelenskiy shook hands and smiled, but it was unclear how the conversation had gone. Accounts of the talks from the French and Ukrainian sides said only that the discussions had been good and productive.
Zelenskiy reacted to Trump’s message on Sunday saying peace was not just a piece of paper, but needed guarantees.
“When we talk about effective peace with Russia, we must first and foremost talk about effective guarantees for peace. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else,” he said on X.
“It (the war) cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures. A ceasefire without guarantees can be reignited at any moment, as Putin has already done before. To ensure that Ukrainians no longer suffer losses, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to occupation.”
It appeared Trump’s figure of 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers lost in the war meant both killed and wounded. Zelenskiy said 43,000 soldiers had been killed in the war and that there had been 370,000 wounded soldiers.
(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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