President Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “couldn’t have been nicer” during their one-on-one meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit at The Hague.
Trump said at a press conference that the two leaders did not discuss details of a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, but stressed their shared desire to end the war swiftly.
“No, no, I just — I wanted to know how he’s doing,” Trump told the reporter. “It was very nice, actually. We had a little rough times. He couldn’t have been nicer. I think he’d like to see an end to this, I do.”
“I think, what I took from the meeting — couldn’t have been nicer, actually — but I took from the meeting that he’d like to see it end. I think it’s a great time to end it.”
Trump said he’d call Russian President Vladimir Putin to try and facilitate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
During their most recent call, Trump said Putin offered to help end the Israel-Iran conflict. “I said no, you can help me with Russia,” Trump recalled of their conversation.
Russia has so far refused U.S. proposals for a 30-day ceasefire, and Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin, while also placing blame on Ukraine for not making a deal to end the fighting.
Trump vowed on the campaign trail to end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office but has so far made little headway.
Zelensky on Wednesday also gave a glowing review of what he described as a “long and substantive meeting with President Trump.”
“We covered all the truly important issues,” Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X. “I thank Mr. President, I thank the United States.”
“We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer,’ he added.
