Trump says Putin would be more useful if he ended war in Ukraine
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump stated that Kremlin head Vladimir Putin wants to be helpful on the Middle East issue, but would be more useful if he ended the war in Ukraine, according to a White House broadcast.
During his press conference, Trump was asked what he could say about the March 9 phone call with Putin and what they discussed.
In response, the US leader said the conversation was very good and that there were many people on the line from both sides. One topic of the conversation was the war in Ukraine.
"We were talking about Ukraine which is just a neverending fight and when look there's tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. They can't seem to get it together," Trump stated.
At the same time, he still believes the conversation was positive. Another topic of the negotiations was the situation in the Middle East. According to Trump, Putin wants to be helpful on this issue, but he believes the Russian leader would be much more useful if he ended his war against Ukraine.
"We obviously talked then about the Middle East, and he wants to be helpful. I said: 'You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine-Russia war over with. That would be more helpful,'" the US President emphasized.
Summarizing, Trump added that the conversation was good and that Putin wants to act very constructively.
Negotiations and the end of the war in Ukraine
Since the beginning of 2026, three rounds of trilateral peace negotiations between Ukraine, the US, and Russia have already taken place, aimed at ending the war.
The parties have not yet resolved the territorial issue, particularly in the Donbas, but progress was made on other issues.
In the first days of March, representatives of the three countries were scheduled to hold a fourth round of talks in Abu Dhabi, but the meeting was canceled due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The resumption of diplomacy was expected this week. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on March 9 that the meeting is still being postponed due to the situation with Iran.
At the same time, it is worth noting that the other day, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, stated that work on the final documents is ongoing and that new results are expected in the coming weeks.
