WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is abandoning his pursuit of a ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine and pushing for a peace deal after an Alaskan summit with Vladimir Putin failed to produce an immediate agreement.
Trump said in an early morning Truth Social post that after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders by phone "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 said Zelenskyy would be coming to Washington on Aug. 18 for an Oval Office meeting with both leaders after a contentious Feb. 28 clash, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy and accused him of being ungrateful.
More: 'No deal': Takeaways from Trump's Alaska summit with Putin
The Trump administration paused intelligence sharing and weapons shipments to Ukraine after the incident. Zelenskyy declined to apologize for his part in the spat in the immediate aftermath. But he sent Trump a conciliatory letter that helped put the relationship back on track several days later.
