Trump says he is working with both sides to end war in Ukraine
Trump says he believes Zelenskiy and Putin both want the war to end, a claim his own envoys have challenged in private.
Published
Trump said he is working with Ukraine and Russia to end the war and that he believes President Zelenskiy and President Putin both want it to stop.
A source close to the Kremlin told us that Putin would only come to the table once Russia secures the remaining 11% of Donbas territory it does not yet control, and that a diesel deal pitched by Witkoff and Kushner was being used by Moscow as leverage rather than a sign of flexibility.
Trump's remarks also follow a string of ceasefire claims over the past month that Russia has not confirmed and Ukraine has accepted only on condition that Russia does too. The Kremlin said it would pause strikes for a Ukraine election day, but that offer depends on a vote Kyiv has not scheduled. Zelenskiy has said an energy ceasefire Trump announced caught him by surprise and that Ukraine would only honor it if Russia did the same.
European Commission President von der Leyen has backed Zelenskiy's call for a ceasefire and said the EU will increase funding for Ukrainian drone and missile defenses, while Poland has told NATO to prepare for a more severe Russian hybrid attack after months of drone incursions that were intercepted but not met with new deterrent measures. Set against that record, Trump's latest statement adds another claim of progress to a process that has so far produced no confirmed narrowing of the core dispute: Russia's insistence on securing Donbas before any talks begin.