Trump says Ukraine has ‘gotta make a deal’ after summit with Putin yields no ceasefire
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday Ukraine should agree a deal to end the war with Russia because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not,” after holding a summit with President Vladimir Putin that failed to yield a ceasefire.
In a major shift, Trump also said he had agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was to go straight to a peace settlement – not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have been demanding.
Trump’s comments came after he met Putin for nearly three hours in Alaska on Friday at the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump posted on Truth social.
