President Donald Trump said Thursday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to negotiate a deal to end the war with Russia, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to meet soon.
Trump spoke to reporters after signing multiple executive orders in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon. When a reporter asked whether Zelenskyy told him he was willing to negotiate a solution to the war with Russia, Trump confirmed.
“Yes, he is willing to negotiate a deal. He wants to stop this,” Trump said. “He’s someone who lost a lot of soldiers, and so did Russia. Russia lost more soldiers. They lost 800,000. Would you say that’s a lot? I would say it’s a lot.”
He was also asked whether sanctions against Russia would force Putin to negotiate.
Putin is said to be concerned about Russia’s economy ahead of possible Trump tariffs
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with members of the Security Council at the Kremlin in Moscow. (Aleksey Babushkin, Sputnik, Kremlin swimming pool photo)
“I don’t know, but I think he needs to make a deal,” Trump said.
Trump also told reporters that Chinese President Xi Jinping could influence the war between Russia and Ukraine because he has leverage over Russia. He explained that the two countries are major trading partners.
Russia, Trump noted, supplies China with a lot of energy, and the latter pays China a lot of money.
‘I think they have a lot power over Russia“So I think Russia should want to make a deal,” Trump said. “From what I hear, Putin would like to see me, and we will meet as soon as possible.”
Putin says Russia is ready to compromise with Trump over war in Ukraine
Former President Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower in New York City, September 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
When he described the war in UkraineTrump said soldiers were killed on a battlefield that was “like no other battlefield since World War II.”
“Soldiers are being killed every day, in numbers we haven’t seen in decades,” he said. “It would be nice to end that war. It’s a ridiculous war.”
Putin is reportedly concerned about the state of his country’s economy as Trump returns to the Oval Office. According to a report from Reuters, citing several sources, Trump’s attempt to end the war in Ukraine only adds to Putin’s concerns.
Putin and XI pledge to ‘deepen’ the alliance, hours after Trump re-enters the White House
An officer of the National Police of Ukraine walks in front of a restaurant destroyed by a Russian attack in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, June 27, 2023. (National Police of Ukraine via AP)
During his campaign, Trump has sought to end world conflicts, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, which began with Putin’s invasion in 2022.
Last month, said Putin he was willing to compromise on Ukraine in possible talks with Trump about ending the war and had no preconditions for starting talks with Ukrainian authorities.
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“We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises,” Putin said at the time, after saying that Russian forces, advancing across the entire front, were on their way to achieving their main goals in Ukraine.
“In my opinion, soon there will be no one left to fight. We are ready, but the other side must be ready for both negotiations and compromises.”
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
