Donald Trump optimistic Russia-Ukraine war could soon end after call with Putin ahead of NATO summit
US President Donald Trump is set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit of the NATO military alliance in Türkiye.
US President Donald Trump has expressed optimism on progress in bringing the war in Ukraine to an end following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump said talks to end the war were “getting much closer than people realise”.
“And President Putin wants it to end. I will tell you that very strongly. Good call, and President Zelensky actually wants it to end now,” he said during an event at the White House.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I had a very good call, and I think... we’re getting close to getting it done,” Mr Trump said of Mr Zelensky.
Speaking ahead of a NATO summit starting in Ankara on Tuesday, Mr Trump said: “And we’re going to be going to NATO and we’re going to be talking about it and we, I think, we’re going to get it. I think we’re going to get it ended.”
The Kremlin said on Monday that Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed in a weekend call that they would talk again “in the near future,” suggesting they are likely to talk this week during or after the NATO summit.
Mr Trump is planning to meet Mr Zelensky on Wednesday at the NATO summit, a senior US official said on Sunday.
The idea, the official said, was to make a renewed push to end the war in Ukraine.
The same official said Mr Trump would likely follow up with Mr Putin after talking to Mr Zelensky.
Asked on Monday if Mr Trump would phone Mr Putin after meeting Mr Zelensky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “Yes, indeed, both President Putin and President Trump have agreed that their contacts will continue in the near future.”
Mr Peskov said Mr Trump had held a pretty consistent position on the conflict in Ukraine.
“You know, President Trump, the US president, has a fairly consistent stance, and all these fabrications about him supposedly changing his views like a weather vane are, of course, untrue,” Mr Peskov said.
“He is consistent and confident in his understanding of what is happening, but, most importantly, he (Trump) is open to listening to the information that is conveyed to him by Putin.”
Ukraine has been warding off a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
Recent large-scale Russian missile attacks have claimed multiple lives in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities while Ukraine has targeted Russia’s oil sector and attacked links between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.
with DPA
