Trump sends message to Putin ‘war has to end’ after ‘good’ meeting with Zelensky
Trump’s comments come after crucial Davos talks with Ukraine’s leader, as peace efforts intensify amid fresh strikes and high-stakes diplomacy
US President Donald Trump said his message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin was that the war in Ukraine has to end, after what he said were “good” talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos on Thursday.
US and Ukrainian officials have spent weeks in frenetic shuttle diplomacy as Kyiv faces pressure from Trump to secure peace in the nearly four-year-old war, despite few signs Moscow wants to stop fighting.
After a meeting with the Ukrainian leader that lasted around an hour, Trump said they had a “good” discussion but provided no further details on the substance of the conversation. On Wednesday, Trump had said a deal was “reasonably close”.
“I think the meeting with President Zelensky was good. It’s an ongoing process,” Trump told reporters, saying that US envoys were heading for talks in Moscow on Thursday. Asked what his message was for Putin, Trump replied: “The war has to end.”
Zelensky had said earlier this week he would only travel to Davos if he could sign agreements with Trump on US security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine, but there was no indication after the meeting that a breakthrough had been made.
The two leaders have met around half a dozen times face-to-face since Trump returned to the White House last year and upended US policy on Ukraine by embracing diplomacy with Russia.