Washington: US President Donald Trump is set to hold separate bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, the White House announced on Sunday.
According to White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, Trump will meet President Zelensky on Wednesday afternoon to discuss efforts aimed at ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. A senior US official said the conflict remains one of Trump’s top foreign policy priorities, adding that the President intends to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the meeting with Zelensky.
The planned talks come as diplomatic efforts continue to find a breakthrough in the nearly four-and-a-half-year-old war, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has largely remained at a military stalemate.
Trump and Zelensky last met during the G7 summit in France in June, where participating leaders agreed to step up pressure on Russia to bring the conflict to an end. However, relations between the two leaders have seen periods of tension, including a widely publicized confrontation at the White House in February 2025.
Trump is also scheduled to meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during the summit. The discussions are expected to take place amid renewed regional attention over Syria’s role in the Middle East, particularly following speculation that Damascus could become involved in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al-Sharaa has rejected suggestions of any military intervention in Lebanon, stating that Syria seeks to strengthen economic cooperation with its neighbor rather than pursue military involvement.
Syria maintained a military presence in Lebanon for decades following its intervention in the Lebanese civil war and withdrew its forces in 2005, making any potential future involvement in the country a highly sensitive issue.