WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end their brutal war following a lengthy White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump’s frustration with the conflict has surfaced repeatedly in the nine months since he returned to office, but with his latest comments he appeared to be edging back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking land it has lost to Russia.
“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts,” Trump said in a Truth Social post not long after hosting Zelensky and his team for more than two hours of talks. “They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!”
Later, soon after arriving in Florida, where he’s spending the weekend, Trump urged both sides to “stop the war immediately” and implied that Moscow keep territory it’s taken from Kyiv.
“You go by the battle line wherever it is — otherwise it’s too complicated,” Trump told reporters.
In recent weeks, Trump had shown growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war.
Indeed, after meeting with Zelensky in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly last month, Trump even said he believed the Ukrainians could win back all the the territory they had lost to Russia since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion. That was a dramatic shift for Trump, who had previously insisted that Kyiv would have to concede land lost to Russia to end the war.
Zelensky after Friday’s meeting said it was time for a ceasefire and negotiations. He sidestepped directly answering a question about Trump nudging Ukraine to give up land.
“The president is right we have to stop where we are, and then to speak,” Zelensky said when asked by reporters about Trump’s social media post, which he hadn’t seen.
Trump tone on the war shifted after he held a lengthy phone call with Putin on Thursday and announced that he planned to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.
The president also signaled to Zelensky on Friday that he’s leaning against selling him long-range Tomahawk missiles, weaponry that the Ukrainians believe could be a game changer in helping prod Putin to the negotiating table.
Zelensky at the start of the White House talks said he had a “proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the Tomahawk cruise missiles.
But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the US supply, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles to help Ukraine beat back Russia’s invasion.
“I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace,” Trump said. “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather have the war be over to be honest.”
Trump’s latest rhetoric on Tomahawks is certainly disappointing to the Ukrainians. In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine the Tomahawks, even as Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.
But following Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump began downplaying the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a range of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers.)
Zelensky had been seeking the Tomahawks, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target key military sites, energy facilities and critical infrastructure. Zelensky has argued that the potential for such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to end the war more seriously.
Putin warned Trump during the call that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,” according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser.
It was the fifth face-to-face meeting for Trump and Zelensky since the Republican returned to office in January,
The president said Friday it was “to be determined” if Zelensky would be involved in the upcoming talks in Hungary — suggesting a “double meeting” with the warring countries’ leaders was likely the most workable option for productive negotiations.
“These two leaders do not like each other, and we want to make it comfortable for everybody,” Trump added.
But Zelensky told reporters that the animus toward Putin “is not about feelings.”
“They attacked us, so they are an enemy for us. They don’t intend to stop,” Zelensky added. “So they are an enemy. It is not about someone just hating someone else. Although, undoubtedly, we hate the enemy. Undoubtedly.”
Trump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly end the war, but his peace efforts appeared to stall following a diplomatic blitz in August, when he held a summit with Putin in Alaska and a White House meeting with Zelensky and European allies.
Trump emerged from those meetings certain he was on track to arranging direct talks between Zelensky and Putin. But the Russian leader hasn’t shown any interest in meeting with Zelensky and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Asked Friday if he was concerned that Putin was stringing him along, Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he could handle the Russian leader.
“I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well,” Trump said. He added, “I think I’m pretty good at this stuff.”
After Zelensky meeting, Trump calls on Ukraine and Russia to ‘stop where they are’ and end the war
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After Zelensky meeting, Trump calls on Ukraine and Russia to ‘stop where they are’ and end the war
- In recent weeks, Trump had shown growing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war
- In his latest comments he appeared to be edging back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking land it has lost to Russia
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners
- Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks.
- The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video
KYIV: Ukraine is expected to hand its latest peace proposals to US negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.
As tension builds around US President Donald Trump’s push for a settlement and calls for an election in Ukraine, Zelensky said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.
Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022 is reducing Kyiv’s room for maneuvering. Zelensky is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to make some compromises.
Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks.
The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelensky said it would include those countries’ leaders.
“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said late Tuesday.
Zelensky’s openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky told reporters late Tuesday he is “ready” for an election but would need help from the US and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could be ready to hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.
“To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security — how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military — how they would vote,” Zelensky said.
“And the second issue is the legislative framework required to ensure the legitimacy of elections,” he said.
Previously, Zelensky had pointed out that a ballot can’t legally take place while martial law — imposed due to Russia’s invasion — is in place. He has also asked how a vote could happen when civilian areas of Ukraine are being bombarded by Russia and almost 20 percent of the country is under Moscow’s occupation.
Zelensky said he has asked lawmakers from his party to draw up legislative proposals allowing for an election while Ukraine is under martial law.
Ukrainians have on the whole supported Zelensky’s arguments, and have not clamored for an election. Under the law that is in force, Zelensky’s rule is legitimate.
Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelensky can’t legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term that began in 2019 has expired.
US seeks closer ties with Russia
A new US national security strategy released Dec. 5 made it clear that Trump wants to improve Washington’s relationship with Moscow and “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
The document also portrays European allies as weak.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trump’s role in the Ukraine peace effort, saying in a speech to the upper house of parliament that Moscow appreciates his “commitment to dialogue.” Trump, Lavrov said, is “the only Western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable.”
Trump’s peace efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
The initial US proposal was heavily slanted toward Russia’s demands. To counter that, Zelensky has turned to his European supporters.
Zelensky met this week with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London, the heads of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then to Rome to meet the Italian premier and Pope Leo XIV.
Zelensky said three documents were being discussed with American and European partners — a 20-point framework document that is constantly changing, a document on security guarantees, and a document about Ukraine’s recovery.
Military aid for Ukraine declines
Europe’s support is uneven, however, and that has meant a decrease in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to Kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.
Foreign military help for Ukraine fell sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international help for Ukraine said Wednesday.
Average annual aid, mostly provided by the US and Europe, was about 41.6 euros billion ($48.4 billion) between 2022–24. But so far this year Ukraine has received just 32.5 billion euros ($37.8 billion), the Kiel Institute said.
“If this slower pace continues in the remaining months (of the year), 2025 will become the year with the lowest level of new aid allocations” since the war began, it said.
This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have substantially increased their help for Ukraine, while Germany nearly tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the UK both more than doubled their contributions, the Kiel Institute said.
On the other hand, it said, Spain recorded no new military aid for Kyiv in 2025 while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15 percent compared with 2022–2024.
