President Donald Trump called on Russia and Ukraine to hold direct ceasefire negotiations for the first time in years, urging the two sides to build on Friday’s meeting between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off,’” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
Representatives for Russia and Ukraine did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night on Trump’s post.
The two countries have not held direct talks since the early days of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to Putin, called the meeting between the Russian leader and Witkoff, who also has participated in ceasefire talks with Ukraine, “productive.”
“This conversation allowed to bring positions of Russia and the United States closer together not only on Ukraine, but also on a number of other international matters,” Ushakov said in a statement.
“I would like to note that in accordance with the agreement reached by the presidents of Russia and the United States, productive Russian-American dialogue at various levels will continue in the most active mode,” he added.
Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
Putin told a Russian state TV reporter on Monday that he was open to resuming ceasefire talks with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in return said on Monday that Ukraine “was ready for any conversation” that would halt strikes on civilians.
Trump’s call for direct negotiations came the same day he was quoted in an interview with Time saying that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of the U.S. president pressuring Ukraine to concede land to Russian invaders.
“Zelenskyy understands that,” Trump said, referring to the strategic Crimean Peninsula, which Russian illegally annexed in 2014. “Everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”
One of Ukraine’s most prominent politicians, Kyiv mayor and former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, has conceded that his country may have to give up territory to Russia if it wants to achieve a peace deal — a major departure from the policies of his country’s president.
Klitschko told the BBC on Friday morning while discussing ceasefire options that “one of the scenarios is to give up territory.”
“It’s not fair,” he added, “but for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary.”
Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser in Zelenskyy’s office, told the BBC that the comments on ceding territory earlier Friday by Klitschko were “counterproductive.”
Klitschko and Zelenskyy are political opponents who have clashed before. But the Kyiv mayor is now one of the most prominent Ukrainian politicians to suggest that these demands could soften.
The Ukrainian government has repeatedly ruled out relinquishing land to Moscow. That’s left a gulf between its position and that of Russia and the Trump administration, which has been a central force in negotiations to end the war.
The meeting between Putin and Witkoff on Friday came at roughly the same time Zelenskyy said in a post on X that it was “clear” at least one of Russia’s sweeping strikes on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday involved “a ballistic missile from North Korea.”
If confirmed, that would suggest that Pyongyang is sending materiel — as well as thousands of troops — to Russia’s western front and signal broadening support for Moscow from one of the West’s most bellicose and secretive foes.
In a long post Friday, Zelenskyy said that while Ukraine had agreed to the Trump administration’s proposed ceasefire 45 days ago, “Russia rejects all of this. That is why this cannot be resolved without pressure. Pressure on Russia is necessary.”
Trump, who has often been accused of being more lenient toward Russia than Ukraine, insisted to journalists Thursday that “you don’t know what pressure I’m putting on Russia” — without elaborating. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, said the Kremlin was “ready to reach a deal” but that some details needed to be “fine-tuned.”
It’s those details that have so far been irreconcilable between the parties.
As a president who once promised he could achieve peace in 24 hours, Trump eagerly wants to land a deal, particularly as he marks his first 100 days in office next week.
Trump recently conceded that his campaign promise to end the war in a single day was an “exaggeration” made “in jest,” but still maintains that he is the only person who can broker a peace deal between the two nations.
“If somebody else is president, no chance,” Trump said in his interview with Time.
Russia is hesitant to give up what it sees as its battlefield and diplomatic advantage — including an amenable president in the White House — according to regional analysts. And Ukraine is reluctant to sign an agreement that it believes will bring both painful territorial concessions and vulnerability to future attacks by the Kremlin.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and his forces currently control around a fifth of its territory, including Crimea. Zelenskyy reiterated his stance Thursday, saying there was “nothing to talk about” when it came to relinquishing territory on a more permanent basis. “It is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
That stance had already prompted an angry reaction this week from Trump, who on social media Wednesday accused Zelenskyy of making “inflammatory statements” by refusing to cede land for peace.
As well as diplomatically, Ukraine is under pressure on the front lines and in the skies, where Russia continues its nightly bombardment of civilians.
The Kremlin launched more than 100 drones overnight into Friday, killing at least three people in the Dnipropetrovsk region and two more in Kherson, the Ukrainian air force said. As rescuers had only just finished picking through the rubble of the previous night’s attack, an even larger bombardment killed 12 in Kyiv and injured more than 80, according to officials.
Trump condemned the missile strikes, telling reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that “I didn’t like last night. I wasn’t happy with it, and we’re in the midst of talking peace, and missiles were fired.”
Hours earlier, Trump issued a rare rebuke of Putin, telling his Russian counterpart, “Vladimir, STOP!” on Truth Social.
Trump also said in a post to his social media site that Ukraine hadn’t yet signed an agreement with the United States on rare earth minerals.
“It is at least three weeks late,” Trump wrote. “Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY. Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!”
Alexander Smith reported from London, Nnamdi Egwuonwu reported from Washington, and Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv.
