Trump says Ukraine’s Zelenskyy could end war ‘almost immediately’

US president ramps up unit connected Ukrainian person to judge woody with Russia up of talks successful Washington, DC.

United States President Donald Trump has accrued unit connected Ukraine to judge an statement to extremity Russia’s war, claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could take to extremity the struggle “almost immediately”.

Addressing Zelenskyy a time earlier his high-stakes sojourn to the White House connected Monday, Trump warned that the instrumentality of Russian-occupied Crimea and Ukrainian rank of NATO would beryllium disconnected the array successful immoderate negotiated settlement.

“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine tin extremity the warfare with Russia astir immediately, if helium wants to, oregon helium tin proceed to fight,” Trump said connected his Truth Social level connected Sunday.

“Remember however it started. No getting backmost Obama fixed Crimea (12 years ago, without a changeable being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things ne'er change!!!”

Trump’s comments came arsenic European leaders were acceptable to travel Zelenskyy connected his sojourn to Washington, DC, connected Monday amid concerns successful Brussels and Kyiv that the US president could motion disconnected connected a woody that is overly favourable to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking soon aft Trump’s comments connected Sunday, Zelenskyy said that previous concessions to Moscow, including successful Crimea, had lone emboldened Putin to wage much war.

“We each stock a beardown tendency to extremity this warfare rapidly and reliably. And bid indispensable beryllium lasting,” Zelenskyy said successful a station connected X.

“Not similar it was years ago, erstwhile Ukraine was forced to springiness up Crimea and portion of our East – portion of Donbas – and Putin simply utilized it arsenic a springboard for a caller attack. Or erstwhile Ukraine was fixed truthful called ‘security guarantees’ successful 1994, but they didn’t work.”

Zelenskyy added that Crimea “should not person been fixed up then, conscionable arsenic Ukrainians did not springiness up Kyiv, Odesa, oregon Kharkiv aft 2022”.

“Ukrainians are warring for their land, for their independence,” helium said.

While Trump has indicated that a woody with Moscow would impact “some swapping, changes successful land” betwixt Russia and Ukraine, Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled retired handing implicit Ukrainian territory to “the occupier”.

In a bid to property Trump to support enactment for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are attending Monday’s talks astatine the White House.

Macron said connected Sunday that European leaders and Zelenskyy would purpose to contiguous a agreed beforehand successful the look of Russian aggression.

“If we amusement weakness contiguous successful beforehand of Russia, we are laying the crushed for aboriginal conflicts,” Macron said.

Despite Trump dismissing the anticipation of Ukraine joining NATO, US peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff said earlier connected Sunday that Putin had agreed to enactment a US-backed information warrant resembling the 32-member transatlantic alliance’s corporate defence mandate during past week’s gathering with the US president successful Alaska.

“We were capable to triumph the pursuing concession: That the United States could connection Article 5-like protection, which is 1 of the existent reasons wherefore Ukraine wants to beryllium successful NATO,” Witkoff told CNN’s State of the Union.

Under Article 5, an equipped onslaught against a NATO subordinate federation is considered an onslaught against each members of the alliance.

Still, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio connected Sunday sought to temper expectations, saying an statement to extremity the warfare was “a agelong ways off”.

“We’re not astatine the precipice of a bid agreement,” Rubio told ABC News’s This Week.

“We made advancement successful the consciousness that we identified imaginable areas of agreement, but determination stay immoderate large areas of disagreement.”