US President Donald Trump says talks to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are “very well advanced” and warned that that there is only a narrow window to broker a deal between Moscow and Kyiv and bring the fighting to a close.
He made the remarks on Thursday as he hosted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House, who visited Washington to urge Trump to continue supporting Ukraine, as tensions soared after Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy traded blows last week.
The 47th US president also expressed confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t push to resume the war if a truce can’t be reached. “I think he’ll keep his word,” said Trump on Putin.
“I’ve known him for a long time now, we had to go through the Russian hoax together,” added Trump referring to the FBI and Justice Department special counsel investigation that examined whether his 2016 presidential campaign illegally coordinated with the Kremlin to sway the outcome of the election.
Starmer’s trip comes just a few days after French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Washington to meet Trump and discuss the war in Ukraine. It also reflects the mounting concern felt by much of Europe that Trump’s over-eagerness to broker a peace deal in Ukraine signals a willingness to concede too much to Putin.
“To begin the process of ending this spiral of death, I had historic back to back calls with President Putin,” said Trump in a joint press conference with Starmer following their meeting.
Trump also noted that his team have been in contact with Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on several occasions. “We’re working very hard to get that war brought to an end,” said Trump.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress, and I think it’s moving along pretty rapidly, and I want to thank all of the people that are here that have been working on it, and we’ll let you know what happens.”
Trump then dropped a bombshell saying the war in Ukraine will either end “fairly soon”, or not at all. The US president then underlined that the scope in which a deal can be brokered is very narrow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington DC, where he arrived late Thursday night.
Zelensky is hoping to gain some kind of security guarantees that would underpin any peace deal that may be negotiated with Russia. He is also expected to sign a deal that will give the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth mineral resources.
Trump suggests that US mining in Ukraine would deter future Russian attacks. He also walked back on labelling Zelensky a “dictator”, saying he could not believe he said this and describing the Ukrainian leader as “very brave”.
Their meeting comes a day after Trump met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. After his talks with the PM, the US president predicted a “very good meeting” with Zelensky later today.
Key details about the deal Trump and Zelensky are poised to sign today have not yet been made public.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the preliminary agreement envisages the creation of an “investment fund” for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Kyiv and Washington would manage the fund on “equal terms”, Shmyhal said, with Ukraine contributing 50% of future proceeds from state-owned mineral resources, oil and gas, and the fund would then invest in projects in Ukraine itself.
Zelensky acknowledged the fund but told the BBC it was “too early to talk about money”.
The New York Times reported, citing a draft document, that the US would own the maximum amount of the fund allowed under US law, but not necessarily all of it.
The US had initially requested $500bn (£395bn) in mineral wealth from Ukraine, a demand which Kyiv rejected, but this was later dropped, according to recent media reports.
Zelensky has also been pushing for the deal to include a firm security guarantee from the US but Trump yesterday suggested the agreement would itself serve as a backstop.