White House sees ‘light at end of tunnel’ on Ukraine

Washington now sees real chances of success for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.

US President Donald Trump is pushing for talks between his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky as the “next phase of the peace process,” she said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“Before President Trump’s landslide victory last November, there was no end in sight to this bloodshed,” she told reporters. “Now, there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel and an opportunity for lasting peace.”

Last week’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska was “very productive, and many key points were agreed to between the two leaders,” Leavitt said. This “opened the doors” for the next phase of the talks, she said.

On Monday, Trump hosted a meeting with Zelensky and a number of European NATO leaders to discuss further steps in the Ukraine peace process.