Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "is going to have to make a deal" with Russia to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
The comments on Tuesday came amid an ongoing impasse over an announced sit-down between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was initially set to follow a historic summit Trump held with the Russian leader in Alaska.
It has failed to materialise for weeks after Russia initially ruled it out, only to later invite Zelenskyy to Moscow, which Kiev views as a non-starter due to security concerns.
Trump said the Ukrainian and Russian leaders "hate each other” and said, "It looks like I have to sit in the room with them, because they can't sit in a room together."
"There's great hatred there. But no, that meeting accomplished a lot," he said, referring to his Alaska summit.
The president reiterated his earlier demand that Europe halt all purchases of Russian oil "immediately."
"They've got to stop immediately; it's not fair to us. They're purchasing Russian oil, and we have to do this," he said in response to a question on whether his administration would have to apply more pressure on Europe.
Earlier, Zelenskyy demanded a “clear position” from Trump on ending the war.
“Before we end the war, I really want to have all the agreements in place. I want to have a document that is supported by the US and all European partners. This is very important. To make this happen, we need a clear position from President Trump,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Sky News.
In reaction to Trump’s remarks urging Europe to stop buying Russian oil, Zelenskyy said he believes Washington is strong enough to “take decisions of their own” and that his US counterpart can give Ukraine additional air defence systems.
