US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (January 21) said he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Switzerland and suggested that Kyiv and Moscow were close to reaching a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump, speaking after his remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin were now ready to negotiate an end to the conflict.
"I hate to say, I thought that was going to be so, I settled for four plus. And I thought that was going to be one of my easier ones. Not the easiest, so settled in a matter of hours," Trump said.
"It's got to get done. Saving a lot of lives, saving millions of lives. With Ukraine and Russia, this tremendous hatred between President Zelensky and President Putin. That's not good. That's not good for settlements," he said.
"I think Russia wants to make a deal. I think Ukraine wants to make a deal. And we're going to try getting a deal done... I think I can say that we're reasonably close," he said.
“We have to get it stopped.”
Trump claims both Putin, Zelensky ready for deal
Trump said he was in discussions with Putin, who he said wanted to reach an agreement to end the war, adding that Zelensky was also prepared to do so.
“I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done,” Trump said. “And if they don’t, they’re stupid.”
Ukraine will mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24.
‘Abnormal hatred’ delayed negotiations
Trump said he had expected to negotiate an end to the war earlier but cited deep personal animosity between the two leaders as a key obstacle.
“I thought it would have happened sooner,” he said, adding there was “abnormal hatred” between Zelensky and Putin.
He did not provide further details on the timing or framework of a potential agreement.
