President Donald Trump said Sunday night that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could end the war with Russia “almost immediately” if he wanted.
Trump’s comments came ahead of a meeting on Monday at the White House between Trump, Zelensky, and other European leaders. Trump, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska, is pushing for an end to the years-long war that broke out in February 2022.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
After his meeting with Putin, Trump said that “it was determined by all” that the best way to end the war would be to go directly to a peace deal rather than a ceasefire agreement.
Along those lines, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that both sides would have to make concessions to get to a peace deal.
“There are things Russia wants that it cannot get and there are things Ukraine wants it’s not going to get,” he said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “Both sides are going to have to give up something in order to get to the table in order to make this happen. That’s just the way it is. The sooner we accept that, that’s the reality.”
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Zelensky, who arrived in the United States on Sunday, said in a post on X that “we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.”
“I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance. Russia must end this war, which it itself started,” he said.
The last meeting at the White House between Zelensky and Trump ended with the Ukrainian president being asked to leave after he clashed with both Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a meeting in the Oval Office. Trump said during that exchange that Zelensky was “gambling with World War III” and that he was being disrespectful to the United States for all the aid it had sent to his country.
Other leaders scheduled to meet with Trump on Monday include French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Union President Ursula von der Leyen.
