President Donald Trump says Ukraine and Russia are “making progress” toward a peace agreement, but he conceded that the conflict remains “difficult” to solve.
Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday night, giving insight into the ongoing Ukraine-Russia talks. He went on to say that U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff would soon be engaging in talks in Moscow, potentially alongside Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
“We’re having good talks,” Trump said. “Ukraine is doing well. I think they’re pretty happy about it. I’d like to see it end, and we won’t know for a little while. Well, we’re making progress.”
“We settled eight wars, and I thought this would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin, but this is probably one of the more difficult ones. There’s a lot of hatred,” he added.
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Trump said that Europe is playing a large part in ensuring there are security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent any further aggression from Russia.
The Trump administration had come under scrutiny last week after presenting a 28-point peace plan to U.S. lawmakers. Some lawmakers, including Republicans, initially described it as a “wish list” for Russia.
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Trump downplayed that plan while speaking Tuesday night, telling reporters that it was “just a map.”
“All that was was a map. That was not a plan. It was, a concept. And from there they’re taking each one of the 28 points, and then you get down to 22 points. A lot of them were solved and actually very favorably solved. So, so we’ll see how we’ll see what happens,” he said.
While the talks are moving quickly, Trump said he does not have a deadline for securing a deal.
“The deadline for me is when it’s over,” he said. “I think everybody’s tired of fighting at this moment. They are losing, losing too many people.”
