President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it is Volodymyr Zelensky who must put an end to the war in Ukraine, warning that Russia's territorial gains "are growing ever larger" and that time is not on Kyiv's side. "It's time to reach an agreement," Trump said at the White House. "Ukraine has lost so many people, as has Russia, but Russia is a huge nation and Ukraine is not." He said Zelensky "could have reached an agreement two years ago, when we had that chat in the Oval Office."
The president's frustration boiled over a day earlier, when he said "Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine," accused Zelensky of "not helping matters much," and said Kyiv should find "somebody else to negotiate" an end to the war. "Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about," Trump said. "He should have had this war settled a long time ago. If he would have listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago, and he'd have a million people living from his side. A tremendous number of people are dead. They're losing their male population."
Trump also complained that the United States gave Ukraine a great deal under Joe Biden and received "nothing" in return, and he has repeatedly demanded answers about the American taxpayers' money: "Where is the cash that we gave to Ukraine? Where's all the equipment?"
Zelensky spent Tuesday in Oslo meeting U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, trying to repair ties with Washington, and spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio about ballistic missile interceptors, early warning of Russian missile attacks, and restoring the Starlink and Starshield satellite links that guide Ukrainian drones. Kyiv says Washington has lately failed to provide early warning of missile launches, throttled those satellite links, and failed to deliver air defenses paid for by European allies — while Russian strikes grow deadlier. In the latest attack, a Russian drone hit near a petrol station on a highway south of Kyiv, killing three people.
The United States has already largely stopped sending weapons to Ukraine directly, while still allowing European countries to buy American arms on Kyiv's behalf. Trump's message to Zelensky is now blunt: settle while there is still a deal to make.