Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin will need to eventually sit down at the negotiating table together, US President Donald Trump said Friday.
“I think that President Putin and President Zelenskyy are going to have to get together, because you know what? We want to stop killing millions of people,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Soldiers are being killed by the thousands a week, thousands of soldiers a week. As we speak, that they’re being killed. That’s why I want to see a cease fire. And I want to get the deal done. I think we have a chance to get the deal done. I had to make sure that Russia wanted to do it. It’s a war that would have never happened,” he added.
Asked by a reporter about a proposed agreement that would see the US receive some share of Ukraine’s mineral rights in exchange for continued military support, Trump said, “I think we’re pretty close.”
“They feel good about it and it’s significant. It’s a big deal, but they want it, and it keeps us in their country, and they’re very happy about it, but we get our money back. This should have been signed long before we went in,” said Trump.
Trump further denied a report from French outlet Le Point that he will visit Moscow in May.