The US leader has said that President Putin was “all done” on several occasions, but Zelensky wouldn’t negotiate
US President Donald Trump has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to make a [peace] deal” to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
In an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, Trump recounted how he “had instances where I had Putin all set, but Zelensky wouldn’t make the deal, which surprised me.”
“Then I’ve had instances where it was the opposite,” the US president added.
He concluded that “now both of them want to make a deal,” while declining to provide any specific timeline regarding how long it might take Washington to settle the Ukraine conflict.
In late December 2025, Trump met with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in Miami to discuss a possible peace roadmap. During a press conference, the US president said that “we’re making great progress” and that “we could be very near,” with 95% of all the topics agreed upon.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later agreed with Trump’s assessment of the Ukraine peace process.
Russian officials, including Putin, have repeatedly said that Moscow would rather resolve the Ukraine conflict through diplomatic means but will have to continue using force if its key objectives cannot be achieved solely through diplomacy.
US-mediated negotiations involving Russian and Ukrainian representatives have intensified in recent months, after Trump’s initial 28-point peace plan was leaked to the media in November 2025.
The roadmap reportedly envisioned Kiev ceding the rest of Donbass to Moscow as well as giving up its aspirations for NATO membership and limiting the size of its military, among other points.
Since then, the US plan has gone through several changes, with input from both Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters earlier in mid-December, Trump claimed that “except for President Zelensky, his people liked the concept of the deal… that would have stopped the killing of thousands of people every month.”
Several days earlier, the US president urged the Ukrainian leader to “get moving and start accepting things,” noting that Russia had the “advantage” in the conflict.
He made the remarks after Zelensky ruled out territorial concessions to Russia.