Big: Putin Agrees to Bilateral Meeting With Zelensky

It's on.

In Tuesday's regular press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made a big announcement; namely, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to a bilateral meeting.

This is, as someone once said, a big freakin' deal.

In a major step toward ending the years-long war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement during Tuesday's press briefing. She clarified that "if necessary" there could be a trilateral meeting involving the U.S. after Putin and Zelenskyy meet.
"President Trump spoke with President Putin by phone, and he agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process, a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, which would be followed, if necessary, by a trilateral meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky and President Trump," Leavitt said on Tuesday.
Leavitt said that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would "continue to coordinate with Russia and Ukraine to make this happen as soon as possible."

There has been no mention yet about when or where this bilateral summit may take place, although it seems likely that some neutral ground would be desirable for both parties; The Hague seems a logical place, or perhaps Brussels, or a tiny cabin near the front lines, for that matter, as long as the two are talking.

European leaders are singing President Trump's praises for his facilitation of this meeting, and for his work in trying to bring some kind of halt to the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Leavitt highlighted European leaders' praise for Trump following the Alaska and D.C. summits.
"I think in the past two weeks, we’ve probably had more progress in ending this war than we have in the past three-and-a-half years," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed the sentiment and acknowledged that for three-and-a-half years "nobody has been able to bring it to this point."
Additionally, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte thanked Trump and credited the president for breaking a "deadlock" when it comes to getting Putin to the table.
Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also praised Trump's peace efforts.

It is, of course, belaboring the obvious to note that the only way the Russo-Ukraine War might end is when these two men sit down in the same room at the same time, look each other in the eye, and talk. That's what it will take, and now, at least, the talk is being arranged. Afterwards, there will be more meetings, with President Trump and no doubt with the various leaders of the nations of Europe, of the European Commission, and NATO. But this was the necessary first step.

Ukraine's Zelensky Releases Latest Conditions, but He May Have to Give Up Donbas

And that Nobel Peace Prize talk is coming up again.

House GOP allies of President Donald Trump are nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize amid his ongoing efforts to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is spearheading a letter to the Nobel Committee on Tuesday alongside Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind.
Their nomination hails Trump as a peacemaker on several fronts, the most recent being his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and subsequent meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

While it seems pretty certain that President Trump wasn't doing this to make his name ring bells in Stockholm, if there is indeed a peace deal signed in time, this Nobel would be the most-deserved Peace Prize award since Theodore Roosevelt was so recognized for helping bring an end to the Russo-Japanese War - another war involving Russia in which America wasn't involved, but where a determined and driven American president wanted to see the killing stopped.

Yes, I just compared President Trump to Teddy Roosevelt. In this case, it's an apt comparison. So there.

We will anxiously await word of what comes next - and as soon as we know, we'll let you know. Stay tuned!

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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