French President Emmanuel Macron meets Donald Trump in Washington DC, says Ukraine war to end soon

Washington DC/IBNS: After an hours-long meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington DC, French President Emmanuel Macron said that a peace deal or ceasefire agreement in Ukraine is highly likely in a matter of weeks.
He also spoke in detail about his meeting with President Trump and what the outcomes will be.
President Macron was representing all of Europe at Tuesday's meeting with Trump since Europe shares a common concern over its security.
Everything is possible, so let’s do it together!
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 25, 2025
USA and France, with all our partners. pic.twitter.com/3djMDANJtX
Macron held a meeting with top leaders of the European Union in Paris last week during the same time when Russia and the United States were holding a meeting over Ukraine in Saudi Arabia.
During their meeting in Paris, European leaders have raised their concern that a US-Russia direct deal on Ukraine will ignore Europe's concerns on security.
They echoed the same sentiment that talks on the Ukraine war cannot happen without Ukraine and Europe.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said that the three-year-long Ukraine war will end within weeks.
Calling the arrival of President Trump to negotiations on Ukraine a "game-changer", the French President said: "He (Trump) knows how to re-engage with Russia with the full deterrence capacity of the US".
Macron however cautioned the US President not to rush into a deal with Moscow.
"In 2014, we had a peace deal with Russia. I can tell you from personal experience since I was one of the two members along with German representative to follow up on the ceasefire. Russia grossly violated every single time - and none of us reacted collectively. So, the issue is of trust and credibility - how to ensure Russia does not do this again," he said in an interview with Fox News.
"For me, the sequence of the ceasefire agreement should be as follows - First, there should be a negotiation between the US and Russia and then the US and Ukraine. President Trump has announced today that he is willing to have a short-term meeting with Ukraine's President Zelensky - this is super important," he said.
The war in Ukraine completed 3 years on February 24. Thousands of Ukrainian citizens have died and over 6 million live as refugees abroad.
Military losses have been catastrophic, although both sides hold the details as close-guarded secrets. The estimated cost to rebuild Ukraine's economy after Russia's invasion has risen to $524 billion, nearly three times its expected 2024 economic output.