CNN Military Analyst Warns U.S. Must Attend Zelensky-Putin Meeting to Prevent Ukraine President’s Assassination

Jennifer Bowers Bahney Aug 18th, 2025, 4:09 pm

CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, warned that President Donald Trump must attend future Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks in order to prevent Volodymyr Zelensky from being assassinated.

At a White House meeting on Monday with Ukraine’s president and seven European leaders, Trump offered to attend a meeting between Zelensky and Putin if they wanted him to be there. Zelensky indicated that he would “definitely” want Trump there.

Leighton explained on CNN that it would be “essential” for Trump to attend such a meeting because Putin doesn’t recognize Ukraine as a legitimate country or Zelensky as

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