Trump Urges Ukraine, Russia to Stop War

Trump’s frustration with the conflict has surfaced repeatedly in the nine months since he returned to office, but with his latest comments he has backed away from pressuring Ukraine to regain territory it lost to Russia.

“Enough blood has been shed with property boundaries being determined by War and Guts,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social shortly after hosting Zelenskyy and his team for more than two hours of talks. “They must stand where they are. Let both declare Victory, let History decide!”

Then, immediately after arriving in Florida, where he was spending the weekend, Trump called on both sides to “immediately stop the war” and implied that Moscow should keep the territory it took from Kiev.

“You go through the battle lines no matter where it is, otherwise it’s going to be very complicated,” Trump told reporters. “If you stand on the battle line, both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, that should be it.”

The comments marked another shift in Trump’s position on the war. In recent weeks, he has shown increasing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war.

After meeting Zelenskyy in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly last month, Trump even said he believed the Ukrainians could regain all the territory they had lost to Russia since Putin launched his February 2022 invasion. It was a dramatic shift for Trump, who had previously insisted that Kiev must hand over lost territory to Russia to end the war.

Zelenskyy said after Friday’s meeting that it was time for a ceasefire and negotiations. He avoided directly answering a question about Trump forcing Ukraine to give up territory.

When asked by journalists about the social media post that Trump had not seen, Zelenskyy said, “The President is right, we need to stand where we are and talk.”

Another change in tone Trump’s tone on the war shifted after he had a lengthy phone call with Putin on Thursday and announced plans to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.

The president also signaled to Zelenskyy on Friday that he is not interested in selling him long-range Tomahawk missiles, which Ukrainians believe could be a game changer in encouraging Putin to the negotiating table.

At the beginning of the White House talks, Zelenskyy said he had an “offer” in which Ukraine could provide advanced unmanned aerial vehicles to the United States, while Washington could sell Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev.

But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into U.S. supply; This was a turnaround after days of suggesting Ukraine was seriously considering sending missiles to help Russia repel its invasion.

“I have an obligation as a country to make sure we’re fully stocked because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace,” Trump said. “We’d rather they didn’t need Tomahawks. Frankly, we’d rather the war be over.”

In an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy suggested the door is not closed.

“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no,’ but he didn’t say ‘yes’ for today,” he said.

Zelenskyy also said, “We need Tomahawks” because “it is very difficult to operate only with Ukrainian UAVs.”

Trump’s latest rhetoric regarding Tomahawks was certainly disappointing to Ukrainians. In recent days, Trump has been open-minded about selling Tomahawks to Ukraine, although Putin has warned such a move would further strain US-Russia relations.

Why Tomahawks? But after his meeting with Putin on Thursday, Trump began to downplay the possibility of Ukraine receiving the missiles, which have a range of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers).

Zelenskyy was seeking Tomahawks that would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target key military sites, energy facilities and critical infrastructure. Zelenskyy argued that the potential for such attacks would force Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to end the war more seriously.

According to Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, Putin warned Trump during the meeting that providing Tomahawks to Kiev “will not change the situation on the battlefield, but will seriously damage relations between our countries.”

This was Trump and Zelenskyy’s fifth face-to-face meeting since the Republican Party returned to office in January.

The president said on Friday that “it has to be decided” whether Zelenskyy will attend talks in Hungary and suggested that a “bilateral meeting” with the leaders of the warring countries was probably the most viable option for productive negotiations.

“These two leaders don’t like each other, and we want everyone to be comfortable with that,” Trump added.

But Zelenskyy told reporters that the hostility towards Putin “is not about emotions.”

“They attacked us, therefore they are enemies for us. They do not intend to stop,” Zelenskyy added. “So they are enemies. It’s not a matter of someone hating someone else. Although we undoubtedly hate the enemy, too. Without a doubt.”

Going back to the 2024 campaign, Trump insisted he would quickly end the war, but peace efforts appeared to stall after a diplomatic offensive in August, when he held a summit with Putin in Alaska and a meeting with Zelenskyy and his European allies at the White House.

Trump emerged from these meetings confident that he was on track to arrange direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. However, the Russian leader showed no interest in meeting with Zelenskyy, and Moscow further intensified its bombardment against Ukraine.

Asked on Friday if he was worried about Putin deceiving him, Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he could handle the Russian leader.

“I’ve been played by the best guys all my life, and I’ve had a really good result,” Trump said. “I think I’m pretty good at this stuff.” he added.