(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump called his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin productive but indicated that a path to end the war had still not been finalized, adding that he would speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and tell him to make a deal.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the summit Trump said that there were a few sticking points remaining after his discussion with Putin, even as he cautioned that the two had not reached a deal, and shifted his focus to Zelenskiy, saying it was up to him to resolve the war.
“There’s one or two pretty significant items but I think they can be reached,” Trump said in the interview. “It’s really up to President Zelenskiy to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelenskiy.”
Asked what his advice to the Ukrainian leader would be, Trump responded, “make a deal, make the deal.”
Trump’s comments follow a highly-anticipated summit that ended up with the Russian and US presidents holding their longest ever face-to-face meeting with each other. But despite their extended conversation neither leader provided clear details on their discussion, a move that may intensify anxiety in European capitals and in Kyiv about an agreement that sidelines their input.
Trump also said in the interview that he was looking to set up a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy.
“They both want me there, and I’ll be there. You got to see it out. And it is a big day. I think either way, it’s a big day. But if we get this solved, it’s a really big day, because we’re going to save a lot of lives,” he said.
Sticking Points
Trump’s interview capped a dramatic day that saw the US president welcome Putin to American soil in a bid to end Russia’s war on its neighbor. Standing aside Putin at an event wrapping up the summit, Trump called their discussions “extremely productive” but added: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
“There were many, many points that we agreed on — most of them I would say — a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said, adding that he would discuss the summit’s developments in phone calls with Zelenskiy and allies in NATO.
Putin spoke first at the event, casting the conversations as useful and said they were held “in a constructive atmosphere.” He talked of unspecified agreements with Trump, and suggested that Ukraine was only one of multiple issues discussed, pointing to the potential for increased trade and business cooperation as well as work in the Arctic and in space exploration.
Trump at the event with Putin did not specify which points he saw as potentially contentious, saying only that “there are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant; one is probably the most significant.”
He declined again in the Hannity interview to detail what the remaining sticking points might be.
“I’d rather not. I guess somebody is going to go public with it. They’ll figure it out,” Trump said.
Few Specifics
Ahead of the talks European allies expressed anxiety that Trump might concede too much to Putin or strike a broad deal that involves exchanges of territory without the consent of Kyiv. Trump’s refusal to share those details and his renewed pressure on Zelenskiy is likely to cement those fears.
“Once again Trump appears to have been played by Putin,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said, adding that Trump walked away without a ceasefire — something he had stressed as a priority before the Putin meeting — and with “no near-term prospect of Trump applying threatened sanctions.”
“Putin got a meeting on US soil, Trump got flattered by Putin,” Van Hollen said in a post on X. “Advantage Putin. Shameful.”
Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the global policy think tank RAND, described the event as “a lot of upbeat vibes with very little by way of specifics,” in an interview.
“It sounds like there were specifics discussed, based on what Trump said,” Charap added. “Neither of them gave away any substance. It was a very disciplined press conference for Trump. He stuck to his message, which was clearly agreed that they would not reveal any details.”
The press event, with Trump standing side-by-side with a leader who has been an international pariah since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 capped a stunning day. While Trump had downplayed expectations for the summit in its run-up, even insisting aboard Air Force One en route to the meeting that he would “walk away” if the talks did not go well, he spoke with Putin for more than two-and-a-half hours — a session longer than their 2018 summit discussions in Helsinki.
Moscow Offer
Putin said it was important for countries to “turn the page.” He also closed by indicating in English that Trump should meet him “next time in Moscow,” a suggestion the US president did not immediately reject.
“Oh, that’s an interesting one. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening,” Trump said.
Friday’s summit opened with a highly-choreographed spectacle that saw Trump greet Putin on American soil, the Russian leader’s first visit to the US in nearly a decade. The two met on the tarmac, with Trump clapping as Putin approached and welcoming him with a warm handshake and a pat on the arm.
A flyover that included a B-2 bomber offered a show of force by the US but Trump was also seen putting his hand on Putin’s back and engaging in friendly conversation before the two departed in the president’s own limousine to the summit site.
That ride allowed Putin to speak directly to Trump without aides present, giving him valuable time with the US leader, even though the White House had sought to highlight how plans for a one-on-one meeting between the two had been scrapped for a three-on-three with other officials present.
Ahead of the summit, Trump had sought to reassure allies that he would not negotiate the swap of territories at the summit and kept the door open to security guarantees for Europe.
For Putin, Friday offered a chance to reset relations between Washington and Moscow and suggests that his charm offensive ahead of the summit may pay dividends. The Russian leader is also eager to divide the US from Europe and seek sanctions relief for an economy at home that may be on the verge of slipping into a recession.
The Russian president had offered only maximalist demands for territory and refused calls to halt the fighting, frustrating Trump’s vow to quickly end the war. Putin sees little incentive to stop the fighting, confident that his military holds a dominant position on the battlefield as it slowly advances in a brutal, grinding war.
Critics have said that Trump needs to raise economic pressure on Putin to get him to move toward a deal, however, Trump signaled he wasn’t in a rush to revisit the question of implementing fresh penalties on Russia’s trading partners, including China.
“Because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now,” he said. “I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now.”
—With assistance from Derek Wallbank, Eric Martin, Josh Wingrove, Justin Sink, Jordan Fabian and Kate Sullivan.
