Trump Hints Ukraine War Resolution Near After Separate Calls with Putin and Zelenskiy

WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump stated on Monday that a settlement to the prolonged conflict in Ukraine, now exceeding four years, is nearer than the public perceives. He added that the Ukraine crisis will feature prominently in discussions at the upcoming NATO summit in Turkey this week.

The comments followed weekend telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump offered no detailed justification for his optimism, even as Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and its outskirts overnight left at least 28 people dead.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Russian side regards Washington’s approach to ending the war as unchanged.

Zelenskiy, in an interview with the Financial Times, suggested Trump was reconsidering the conflict in light of recent Ukrainian battlefield gains.

“This is one that I think we’re getting much closer than people realize. And President Putin wants it to end. I will tell you that very strongly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The U.S. leader described a “good call” with Putin on the Fourth of July holiday. A Kremlin aide noted the discussion lasted 85 minutes, with Trump proposing to assist in charting a path toward peace.

“And President Zelenskiy actually wants it to end now. And we’re going to be going to NATO, and we’re going to be talking about it, and I think we’re going to get it,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to get it ended. It’s been a terrible situation.”

Trump is set to meet Zelenskiy on Wednesday during the NATO summit in Ankara. A U.S. official said the meeting aims to revitalize efforts to halt the fighting, adding that Trump will probably speak again with Putin afterward.

The Kremlin maintains that Washington’s stance on Ukraine remains steady. Peskov told reporters that Putin and Trump agreed to sustain contact “in the near future,” dismissing claims that the U.S. president shifts his views unpredictably. “He is consistent and confident in his understanding of what is happening, but, most importantly, he is open to listening to the information that is conveyed to him by Putin,” Peskov said.

Zelenskiy likewise characterized his weekend exchange with Trump as “very good.” According to the Financial Times, the U.S. president praised Ukraine’s long-range drone operations against Russian oil facilities, which have caused domestic fuel shortages, saying the country “is doing very well.”

When asked if such successes had secured Trump’s firm alignment with Ukraine, Zelenskiy replied that the American leader appeared to view the war through a fresh lens. “President Trump wants to be where there’s success,” he said, linking that tendency to the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, Trump’s political standing, and his convictions on how the war might conclude.

Since a contentious Oval Office meeting last year devolved into a shouting match, Zelenskiy has sought to repair ties through repeated engagements. Trump’s recent remarks omitted his earlier insistence that the Ukrainian leader urgently accept a deal with Russia, arguing Kyiv lacked the “cards” for negotiation.

Source link