U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine “are very close to a deal” on a ceasefire and that the two sides should meet soon to “finish it off.”
His comments on Truth Social came hours after his special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Trump said it had been a “good day” of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia. The Kremlin described the talks as “constructive.”
“Most of the major points are agreed to,” Trump said in his social media post shortly after arriving in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’,” Trump said. “We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate” an end to the conflict, he said.
Ukraine was not represented at the U.S.-Russia meeting in Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Friday that “real pressure” needs to be applied to the Kremlin to accept an unconditional ceasefire.
“Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal — whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and then — a dignified peace and security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
The American proposal to end the conflict would essentially grant Russia all the territory it has gained in the war, including Crimea, which Russia illegally took over in 2014. Zelenskyy has rejected that proposal, but on Friday he seemed to soften his tone.
“This is true what Trump says, that we don’t have enough weapon — weapons, not people — to regain control of Crimea by arms,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Friday as he inspected the site of a Russian airstrike that killed 12 people. “But there is a possibility of sanctions, other economic pressure, diplomatic pressure,” he said.
Trump pushed harder on the territorial aspect on Friday, saying in an interview with Time magazine that Crimea will never return to Ukraine.
“Crimea will stay with Russia,” Trump told the magazine. “Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” the U.S. president said.
Trump has been pushing Kyiv for concessions in order to “get the peace deal by 100 days in office,” which is next week, according to an official familiar with negotiations, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
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