Trump says he believes Putin is ready to make a deal
The claim comes days after his own envoys told Ukrainian officials in Miami that Putin was not willing to negotiate
Published
Donald Trump said he thinks Vladimir Putin is ready for a deal.
The statement runs against an account given only days earlier by Trump's own envoys. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told Ukrainian officials in Miami that Putin was not willing to negotiate, and that Russia's diesel pledge was an inducement rather than a sign of flexibility.
The pledge itself came on October 9, when Trump said Putin had promised more than 300,000 tons of diesel supply immediately. A day later, Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire, after a week of strikes on refineries and pumping stations on both sides. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the announcement caught him by surprise, and that Ukraine would accept it only if Russia did too. Moscow has not confirmed the ceasefire.
That pattern, of claims confirmed by Trump but left unconfirmed or disputed by Moscow and only conditionally accepted by Kyiv, has held through the past month. Set against it, Monday's statement reads as another step in that same process rather than a documented change in Russia's position, and it gives investors little firm basis to reprice broader market risk unless Moscow confirms it directly.