U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he hoped Russia’s Vladimir Putin would move forward on ending the war in Ukraine but conceded that the Kremlin leader may not want to make a deal at all, adding this would create a “rough situation” for Putin.
In an interview with the Fox News “Fox & Friends” programme, Trump said he believed Putin’s course of action would become clear in the next couple of weeks.
Trump again ruled out American troops on the ground in Ukraine and gave no specifics about the security guarantees he has previously said Washington could offer Kyiv under any post-war settlement
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem (reaching a peace deal), to be honest with you. I think Putin is tired of it. I think they’re all tired of it, but you never know,” Trump said.
“We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks … It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal,” said Trump, has previously threatened more sanctions on Russia and nations that buy its oil if Putin does not make peace.
Ukraine and its European allies have been buoyed by Trump’s promise of security guarantees to help end the war during an extraordinary summit on Monday but face many unanswered questions, including how willing Russia will be to play ball.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the talks at the White House as a “major step forward” towards ending Europe’s deadliest conflict in 80 years and setting up a trilateral meeting with Putin and Trump in the coming weeks.
Zelenskiy was flanked by the leaders of allies including Germany, France and Britain at the summit. His warm rapport with Trump contrasted sharply with their disastrous Oval Office meeting in February.
But the path to peace remains deeply uncertain and Zelenskiy may be forced to make painful compromises to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or wounded in the conflict.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
