𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Donald Trump has declared he is close to doing a deal with Russia on Ukraine that could involve the entire continent. But he has not yet met with Kyiv, instead only talking it through with Moscow diplomats.

Calling the pact a “big, beautiful agreement”, the US president said it “might involve all of Europe”. He made the extraordinary claim after a closed-door meeting at the White House with Vladimir Putin’s top envoy, Kirill Dmitriev. Yet in a move that will concern European allies, he admitted to having not held similar talks with representatives from Ukraine.

Mr Trump refused to say what the mystery deal involved, sparking fears Kyiv could be cut out of crunch decisions on its own future. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: “I can’t tell you what I discussed, but I’m just telling you it’s going to be an agreement, it’s gonna be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine.”

He added: “I could even say it might involve all of Europe. It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled.”

Asked if the war could finally end, he replied: “I do.”

The president has previously branded the conflict a “bloodbath”, claiming about 25,000 people were dying every month as fighting raged around the clock. His comments came after First Lady Melania Trump hosted officials from both warring nations at the White House.

She has been working on a humanitarian mission and brokered a brief truce in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky. But it was the president’s separate sit-down with Putin’s man that set off alarm bells.

He gave no clue as to which countries would be involved, or what concessions either side might be forced to make. On the same day, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner was in Brussels holding talks with Ukrainian, NATO and European officials on security guarantees for Ukraine and a broader European security architecture.

Russia and Ukraine remain bitterly divided over territory and security guarantees, with drones and missiles still raining down on both sides. The UK Government has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

At the recent G20 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stressed the need “to secure just and lasting peace in Ukraine”. Meanwhile, hundreds of British troops and RAF jets are due to take part in a major multinational wargame in Poland to prepare for potential peace in Ukraine.