Peace must not mean surrender of Ukraine, says French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron said US President Donald Trump and he made substantive steps forward during their meeting on Monday local time emphasising their shared desire to build peace but warning that it wont happen if Ukraine is forced to surrender CNN reportedThis peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine It must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees This peace must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders Macron said at a joint news conference with Trump at the White House as per CNNThe French president commended the US leader for his decision to work with President Volodymyr Zelensky and to conclude this agreement thats so important for the US and Ukraine on rare earths and critical minerals but also having substantive conversations with President Zelensky doing this key phase of achieving this deal which is a major commitment to Ukraine sovereigntyMacron added that after speaking with President Trump I fully believe that there is a path forward saying that they share the same beliefs on forging a lasting peace Trump said that he believes Macron agrees with him on many of the most important issues including that this is the right time to end the war CNN reportedTrump that Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may come to Washington this week or next as the two countries are very close to coming to an agreement on a rare earths minerals dealI will be meeting with President Zelenskyy In fact he may come in this week or next week to sign the agreement and which would be nice Id love to meet him Wed meet at the Oval Office So the agreements being worked on now Theyre very close to a final deal Itll be a deal with rare earths and various other things And he would like to come as I understand it here to sign it and that would be great with me Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Frances President Emmanuel MacronThe Presidents comments come as a finalized draft of the USUkraine resources agreement has been presented to the Trump administration and centers on a framework for a reconstruction fund for Ukraine leaving problematic technical details including security guarantees to later discussions according to a Ukrainian source familiar with the negotiation CNN reportedDuring the Oval Office meeting Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who was in the room added that an agreement is close CNN reported We are very close oneyard line Bessent said Trump with regards to Russia said he would be open to an economic development partnership with Russia but added that his first priority is ending the war in Ukraine CNN reportedTrumps response came after he was asked about an earlier Truth Social post where he said he was in serious discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the ending of the War and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and RussiaTrump expanded on those comments later in the Oval Office saying You know they have massive rare earth Its very large its actually the largest in terms of land Its by far the largest country And they have very valuable things that we could use and we have things that they could use and it would be very good if we could do that I think it would be a very good thing for world peace and lasting peace Meanwhile Zelenskyy took to X and praised the heroism of Ukrainians in the ongoing warhttpsxcomZelenskyyUastatus1893903871040463251httpsxcomvonderleyenstatus1893892943712301259Additionally Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission visited Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russias invasion of UkraineThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever