Washington, October 21 (IANS) — US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that delaying a peace agreement with Russia could leave Ukraine in an increasingly difficult position, arguing that Moscow was steadily gaining territory and that Kyiv might no longer be able to secure terms once available earlier in the conflict. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Vice President JD Vance, Trump said Russia’s military advantage and Ukraine’s mounting casualties made a negotiated settlement increasingly urgent.
His remarks came as his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, prepared to travel to Russia following diplomatic discussions in Oslo aimed at advancing efforts to end the war. “Russia’s a big machine. They just keep grinding forward, and that’s what they’ve done,” Trump said, claiming Russian forces were continuing to capture Ukrainian land and that “the land gets bigger and bigger all the time, week by week.” His description of battlefield developments was not accompanied by independently verified territorial data.
The President argued that Russia’s larger population gave it a significant advantage in sustaining a prolonged conflict, and said both countries had suffered enormous casualties, though Ukraine faced greater demographic constraints. “Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelensky has to want to settle this war. And if he doesn’t, I think it’s going to be a very bad thing,” Trump said. Referring to a previous Oval Office confrontation involving Zelensky, himself and Vance, he argued the Ukrainian leader could have secured “a much better deal” in earlier discussions with Washington.
Trump also criticised the scale of American support, saying Washington had spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Ukraine with little in return, though he acknowledged arrangements involving Ukrainian land and rare-earth resources. He said European governments were growing tired of the financial burden. He estimated that Russia and Ukraine had together lost 32,000 people during the previous month, most of them soldiers — a figure presented as his own assessment and not independently verified. He said the continuing deaths were among his principal reasons for seeking a settlement. “I settled eight wars. I thought that would be the easiest one,” he said.
Trump attributed the difficulty of reaching an agreement partly to personal hostility between the two leaders. “The hatred between President Putin and President Zelensky is tremendous. I think that’s most of the reason they haven’t been able to make a deal,” he said. Asked whether Putin and Zelensky would need to meet in person, he said, “They don’t have to be in the same room; I guess I can do it another way,” without explaining what alternative arrangement he envisaged.
In a separate exchange, Trump disclosed that he had raised the case of American prisoner Stephen Hubbard directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I’ve been talking to him at length. I’ve asked him to release him, let’s see what happens,” Trump said, suggesting developments could come within days. While declining to confirm whether a release was imminent, he added, “It’s time to have Mr. Hubbard back.” No agreement or timetable was announced, but the comments indicated the administration was pursuing the prisoner’s freedom through direct engagement with Moscow.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/trump-warns-zelensky-to-make-deal-with-russia
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Publish Date: 2026-10-21 10:37:00
