Washington (United States) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Volodymyr Zelensky to make a deal with Russia – redoubling pressure on the Ukrainian leader even as Moscow grinds on with the war it launched four years ago.
Trump also said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Stephen Hubbard – an American taken captive by Moscow’s forces years earlier in Ukraine – in a fresh sign of his pivot back to Moscow.
“We want Zelensky to make a deal. He can make a deal. He could have made a deal two years ago when we had our little chat in the Oval Office,” Trump told reporters in the same room.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelensky had a bruising televised confrontation in the Oval Office in February 2025, shortly after the Ukraine-skeptic US president returned to office.
“He’s going to have to want to make a deal, because I don’t think his people are going to stand for it any longer,” Trump said Tuesday.
Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since Trump partially lifted sanctions to strike a diesel-supply deal with Putin and slammed Zelensky as a warmonger for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.
The Ukrainian leader met Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on Tuesday for talks aimed at easing the tensions.
Zelensky hailed the resumption of US intelligence sharing on looming Russian strikes, but insisted Kyiv must be included in any future talks on its fate after meetings with US envoys.
Ukraine has been increasingly alarmed by Trump’s return to effectively blaming Kyiv for a failure to end the war that began with Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, and by his warm words towards Putin.
Trump indicated that a deal with Russia to free Hubbard could be near.
“I’ve been talking to President Putin about Mr Hubbard. I’ve been talking to him at length. I’ve asked him to release him. Let’s see what happens,” Trump said in response to a question from an AFP journalist.
“Just stick with me,” Trump added. “Just you remember that question a couple of days from now, because I do things that nobody else can do.”
- Russia leaves
- Russia pays reparations
- Russia agrees to nuclear inspectors
- USA returns nukes it took in exchange for protection promises it didn’t keep
- Putin stands trial for mass murder and kidnapping.
Otherwise, maybe all the refineries go boom.
I hope they do anyway, we should be leaning into renewables
Went from:" you don’t have the cards"
To: “Please stop hurting our best pals”
“Trump was unable to curry up an outrage amongst his followers, following the Ukrainian attacks on Russian data centers, Trumps supp…”
Go to Intel Slava on Telegram. It’s the height of Russian Z. They hate Trump just as much as you or I.
This entire premise, along with fake datacenter bot stories, is manufactured manipulation of ill informed American liberals.
It’s just a yellow blue sports team to you. You don’t know why you’re rooting for it, just that you love the feeling of being in a crowd of other morons.
I think I know why I’m rooting for Ukraine. You’re no different from the rightoids over here dude. You’re so sorry.
Bro. You are the “rightoid”, whatever the fuck that means. Is just saying “fascist” too on point?
“When you sit with eleven Nazis there are a dozen Nazis.”
lol
Wasnt Trump supposed to have this whole thing solved day one of his second term? That seems like decades ago.
In other breaking news, I want 50 million dollars.
Yeah, Trump… and Zelensky wants you to blow him like you blow Putin. Deal?
Not going to happen. This shit will still be going on well into the 2030s or until nobody is left alive to fight.
