‘Zelensky should get the deal first’: Donald Trump on Ukraine President's US visit

US President Donald Trump said his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky may want to come to the US to meet him, but “he should get a [peace] deal first.”

When asked if he is expecting Zelensky to visit him, Trump said during a Press Gaggle on Air Force One on Wednesday, “...He would like to come, but I think we should get a deal done first. We’re having good talks…We won’t know for a little while, but we’re making progress.”

Trump's statement came amid Reuters quoting Ukraine's national security chief Rustem Umerov as saying that Zelensky could visit the US in the next few days to finalise a deal with Trump. However, there was no immediate confirmation of such a trip from the US side.

Ukraine backs 'essence' of peace deal but…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he was ready to advance a US-backed framework for ending the war with Russia and discuss disputed points with Trump in talks he said should include European allies.

In a speech to what is known as the coalition of the willing allies, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Zelensky urged European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a "reassurance force" to Ukraine and to keep backing it for as long as Russia showed no inclination to end its nearly four-year-old war.

"We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe," Zelensky said, according to his speech text. "Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won’t work."

"That framework is on the table, and we're ready to move forward together with the USA, with the personal engagement of President Trump," he said.

Trump will meet with Zelensky, Putin only in final stages of peace deal

President Trump said on Tuesday that he will only meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin when the parties get closer to an agreement on ending the war.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said on social media that negotiations had left “only a few remaining points of disagreement.”

He directed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his Army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to meet at the same time with Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials said Driscoll was expected in Kyiv this week.

"I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelensky and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages," Trump wrote.

On 'Thanksgiving Deadline' for Ukraine-Russia peace plan, Trump said, "We’ll see what happens. They set up a date. The date is going to be sometime in the very near future...I don’t have a deadline. The only deadline for me is when it’s over. And I think everybody is tired of fighting at this point. They are losing too many people."

'Not an easy war'

US and Ukrainian negotiators held talks on the latest US-backed peace plan in Geneva on Sunday. United States Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll then met on Monday and Tuesday with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, a spokesperson for Driscoll said.

Trump said he settled eight wars and had thought the conflict in Ukraine to be one of the easier ones, but later realised it was otherwise.

“We’ve settled right 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 because there’s a lot of hatred,” he said.

"People are starting to realise it’s a good deal for both parties, and they’ve got to stop the war. They’re losing a lot of people, mostly soldiers...," Trump added.