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Trump urges Ukraine to agree to peace deal with Russia

2025-08-16 22:48:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Donald Trump has said he wants to bypass a ceasefire in Ukraine to move directly to a permanent peace deal after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a major shift in stance, the US president told Truth Social after Friday's summit that this would be "the best way to end the terrible war between Russia and Ukraine", adding that ceasefires often "don't last".

Trump will welcome Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, to Washington on Monday and urged him to agree to a peace deal.

After a phone call with Trump after the summit, Zelensky called for a real and lasting peace, adding that "the fire must cease" and the killings must stop.

Trump's comments mark a dramatic shift in his stance on how to end the war, having said only Friday before the summit that he wanted a "quick" ceasefire.

Ukraine's main demand has been a quick ceasefire ahead of talks on a long-term solution, and Trump is said to have told European leaders in advance that his goal for the summit was to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Meanwhile, Putin reportedly presented Trump with a peace offer that would require Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region of Donbas in exchange for Russia freezing its front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Russia currently controls about 70% of Donetsk.

The US president, who has previously said that any peace deal would include "a territorial swap", is said to have conveyed the offer to Zelensky in the call after the summit.

Just a few days ago, Ukraine's president ruled out giving up control of Donbass - made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - saying it could be used as a springboard for future Russian attacks.

The BBC's US partner CBS reported, citing diplomatic sources, that European diplomats were concerned that Trump might try to pressure Zelensky on Monday to agree to the terms of the deal that he and Putin may have discussed at the summit.

CBS cites sources as saying that Trump told European leaders in a call after the summit that Putin would make "some concessions," but failed to specify what they were.

In an interview with Fox News after Friday's summit, Trump was asked what advice he had for the Ukrainian leader, to which he responded by saying "make a deal."

"Russia is a very big power and they are not," he added.

Trump had previously threatened "very serious consequences" if Putin did not agree to end the war, setting a deadline last month for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face tough new sanctions, including secondary tariffs.

Little was announced in the way of an agreement by the two presidents after Friday's summit, but Trump insisted progress had been made.

On Saturday, Putin described the summit as "very useful" and said he had managed to "present our position" to Trump.

"We had the opportunity, and we did, to talk about the genesis, about the causes of this crisis. It is the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis for the solution," the Russian president said.

Meanwhile, the "coalition of the willing" - a group of countries that have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine, which includes the United Kingdom, France and Germany - will hold a phone call on Sunday afternoon ahead of Zelensky's visit to the White House on Monday.

A group of European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said that "the next step should now be further talks involving President Zelensky."

The leaders said they were "ready to work" towards a trilateral summit with European support.

"We are ready to put pressure on Russia," they said, adding: "It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders should not be changed by force."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Trump's efforts to end the war, saying they had "brought us closer than ever before".

"While progress has been made, the next step should be further talks with the participation of President Zelenskyy. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be established without him," he said.

And in Kiev, Ukrainians have described feeling "suppressed" by scenes from Alaska.

"I understand that for negotiations you shake hands, you can't shoot Putin in the face when he arrives. But this spectacle with the red carpet and the kneeling soldiers, it's terrible, it doesn't make sense," said Serhii Orlyk, a 50-year-old veteran from the eastern Donetsk region./ CNA, translated by BBC