US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement “this week,” possibly to end their war of more than three years. He also said the two rivals could then do “big business” with the United States and “make a fortune.”
“Hopefully Russia amd (sic) Ukraine will make a deal this week. Both will then start to do big business with the United States of America, which is thriving, and make a big fortune!” Trump posted to his Truth Social network.
However, he did not share details of any progress in peace talks Washington has sought to push forward between Moscow and Kyiv, since he took over from Joe Biden in January.
The US president’s Truth Social post comes just days after his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned that Washington could “move on” from its push to broker an agreement to end the conflict, which began in February 2022.
“We need to figure out here now within a matter of days whether this is doable in the short term, because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” Rubio said on Friday in Paris, after high-level discussions with European and Ukrainian leaders.
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“We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end. So we need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks. If it is, we’re in. If it’s not, then we have other priorities to focus on as well,” he added.
Efforts by both Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff have included multiple rounds of negotiations in Saudi Arabia and at least three meetings between Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Moscow has so far refused a comprehensive ceasefire proposed by Trump and supported by Ukraine, demanding Kyiv halt military mobilisation and Western arms supplies, conditions rejected by Ukraine.
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During his presidential election campaign, the MAGA leader had pledged he would end the war “within 24 hours of taking office.” He later said a deal could come by April or May. But talks have dragged amid escalating disagreements, including a public spat at the White House in February, with Trump and his vice president JD Vance on one side, and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the other side.
