Trump on war in Ukraine and Russia's talks: Key takeaways

Contents

• US-Russia negotiations in Saudi Arabia
• Deployment of European troops in Ukraine
• Elections in Ukraine
• Meeting with Putin

US-Russia negotiations in Saudi Arabia

According to Trump, after the talks between the American and Russian delegations in Riyadh, he feels "much more confident" about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. He said the negotiations were "very good."

"Russia wants to do something, they want to stop the savage barbarism that’s going on there. Soldiers are being killed by the thousands on a weekly basis. And they’re not American soldiers; they are Russian soldiers, and they’re Ukrainian soldiers largely, although a lot of Koreans have been killed, as you know. They came over to fight and a large portion of them have been wiped out," Trump said.

He once again emphasized his desire to end what he calls a "senseless war." Trump says that two possible agreements are currently being discussed: a ceasefire or a peace deal.

"We're talking about this now peace we have either a ceasefire or a peace itself and we're looking to do both would start off with the ceasefire," Trump said.

One journalist at the press conference asked Trump what he would say to Ukrainians who, after three years of resistance, might feel betrayed or disappointed that they were not invited to the negotiations in Riyadh.

To this, Trump responded that he also "feels disappointed."

"I hear that they're upset about not having a seat, well, they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily," he stated.

The US President believes that he has "the power to end this war" and that there is "good momentum in this direction."

Commenting on Ukraine’s absence from the negotiations, Trump added that Ukrainians could have prevented the war from starting. However, he did not specify how.

"You should have ended this three years ago. You shouldn't ever start it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine. That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land - and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished, and no dome wouldn't been downed. But they chose not to do that way," Trump stated.

Deployment of European troops in Ukraine

When asked whether he supports the deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine, Trump responded affirmatively. He said that he would not oppose such a move if a peace agreement is reached.

"If they want to do that, that’s great. I’m all for it. If they want to do that, I think that’s, that’d be fine. I know France has mentioned it, others have mentioned it, UK has mentioned it. If we have a peace deal. I think, from a European standpoint, we won't have to put any troops over there. If they want to do that, that’s great. I’m all for it," the US President noted.

However, he made it clear that he did not intend to send American troops to Ukraine, as "no one has asked him to", and he did not want to do so himself.

Elections in Ukraine

Trump also directly hinted at the need for elections in Ukraine, stating that it is justified by "objective circumstances."

"We have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he's down to 4% approval rating. If Ukraine wants a seat at the table, wouldn't the people have to say - it has been a long time since they had an election? That's not a Russian thing, that's something coming from me and coming from many other countries also," Trump said.

He added that this idea does not come from Russia but from himself and many other countries.

However, Trump did not specify where he got the 4% approval rating for the Ukrainian President.

According to a KIIS poll in December 2024, 52% of Ukrainians trusted Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In early February 2025, Zelenskyy’s approval rating slightly improved to 57%.

Trump then shifted the conversation, claiming that Russians supposedly "did not want to destroy Kyiv."

The U.S. President added that most cities were devastated and buildings were destroyed. He stated that, in his opinion, Russia had not done this in Kyiv because they did not want to launch too many missiles. He said they had carried out destruction at 20% but not 100%. He suggested that it would have happened very quickly if they had wanted to destroy the city completely. He also noted that some cities were entirely wiped out and that Ukraine was being destroyed. In his view, people were tired of the situation and wanted to see something change.

Meeting with Putin

The American leader did not rule out the possibility of meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month.

"Maybe," Trump said when asked whether he still plans to meet with the Kremlin leader by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, only 10 days remain until the end of February.

Yesterday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the possibility of a Trump-Putin meeting after holding talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia.

According to him, the parties have not yet set a specific date for the meeting.

On February 18, the delegations of the US and Russia held talks in Riyadh, marking the first meeting of this level since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

Following the talks, both sides agreed to appoint high-level teams for further negotiations on Ukraine.

At a press conference, the US Secretary of State stated that in order to end any conflict, "all parties must make concessions, and it must be determined what exactly those concessions will be."

Additionally, Moscow and Washington agreed to restore embassy staff levels. Rubio stated that if diplomatic channels did not function properly, it would be difficult to maintain effective communication, which could derail all discussions regarding Ukraine.

The Russian side also made statements. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that the US "suggested that Russia impose a moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure," but Moscow refused.

Meanwhile, amid US-Russia negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy canceled his visit to Saudi Arabia, which is now rescheduled for March 10.