The US President Donald Trump announced a possible ceasefire in Ukraine "in the not-too-distant future" and spoke about what role he believes Ukraine and President Zelensky will play in the peace talks and whether the US will continue to help. Babel has compiled the most important answers from the American leader to journalists about the war in Ukraine.
Ukraineʼs participation in the US peace plan
The American leader thinks that a ceasefire in Ukraine is possible “in the not too distant future”. Trump sees no threat to dialogue with Russia without the participation of President Zelensky. He considers the question of whether Ukraine is an equal participant in the peace process “interesting”. The US president said that “this is not a good war, and I think they will have to make peace”.
When asked if Trump supported the option of Zelensky giving up territory or exchanging it to end the war, he replied: “He’ll have to do what he has to do, but his ratings, to put it mildly, are not very high.” However, he denied that there was a danger that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s participation in the negotiation process would be frozen.
According to the US president, Putin does not want to end the war and then return to the fight six months later.
Trump called it "unlikely" that Ukraine would return to its borders before the war began in 2014. However, he believes that over time, Ukraine will be able to partially regain the lost territories.
The US president says that new elections should be held in Ukraine "at some point".
Trumpʼs position on Ukraineʼs membership in NATO
Trump said he agrees with Pentagon chief Pete Hegsethʼs statement that Ukraineʼs accession to NATO is not realistic.
"I agree with that. I donʼt think itʼs practical," the US president said.
Some NATO officials also reacted to the statement of the US Secretary of Defense, writes Euractiv.
“One European NATO diplomat compared the US policy shift to coercion of Ukraine to a ʼpreemptive surrenderʼ,” the publication noted.
Several NATO diplomats told Euractiv that they were unpleasantly surprised that such statements were being made even before the start of peace talks on Ukraine.
Meeting with Putin and agreement on rare earth metals
Trump said that the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who arrived in Ukraine on February 12 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, should bring a document from Kyiv with guarantees of the return of American funds invested in supporting Ukraine. The US will continue to support Ukraine, but wants "this assistance to be reliable”.
Trump has not considered a trip to Ukraine, but will consider it. He also said he might hold his first meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia, adding that he hopes the meeting will take place “in the near future”.
Reuters previously reported on this possibility. The Arab country has not signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin and banned him from entering a number of countries.
What preceded
Donald Trump said on February 12 that he had spoken to Putin on the phone. They discussed Ukraine and agreed to assign teams to begin negotiations. According to the American president, the conversation with Putin was “long and very productive”.
"We agreed to work closely together, including mutual visits to our countries," the US president wrote.
After the call with Putin, Trump spoke by phone with Volodymyr Zelensky, to whom he conveyed the essence of the conversation with the Russian leader.
The President of Ukraine said that he and the American leader discussed the possibilities of achieving peace, the willingness of their teams to work together, and technological capabilities, including drones and other modern production.
In addition, the presidents recalled Zelenskyʼs conversation with the head of the US Treasury Department, who brought a draft agreement on minerals to Ukraine. The dialogue also touched on new agreements on security and economic and resource cooperation.
Donald Trump added that the conversation went "very well" and that Zelensky, "like President Putin, wants to achieve peace".
"We discussed various topics related to the war, but mainly the meeting that will take place on Friday in Munich, where the delegation will be led by [US] Vice President JD Vance and [US] Secretary of State Marco Rubio," Trump wrote on his social network.
Trumpʼs plans for war in Ukraine
During the election campaign, Trump claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine “in one day”. However, after being elected president, his narratives changed. The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal wrote that he instructed special envoy Keith Kellogg to end the war in 100 days.
Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that the state will defend its integrity and will not cede its territories to Russia. In September 2024, Zelensky met with Trump and presented him with a victory plan. According to the Ukrainian leader, the meeting was very meaningful.
New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that under Trumpʼs presidency, ending the Russian-Ukrainian war will be the official policy of the United States. He said that he could not give a specific date for the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine, but both sides will have to make concessions because they will not be able to achieve their maximum goals.
And Trump himself, two days after his inauguration, called on Putin to end the war — otherwise he would impose large taxes and sanctions.
Zelensky said he likes Trumpʼs tactics for ending hostilities. However, he stressed that Trump and Putinʼs talks about a war without Ukraine are dangerous for everyone.
Trump said on February 9 that he has a concrete plan to end the war and wants to make a $500 billion deal with Volodymyr Zelensky for access to rare earth minerals and gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in a potential peace deal.
The next day, the American president said that the United States was making progress in talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, but refused to provide details about any contacts with Putin. At the time, he said that the United States was in contact with Russia and Ukraine and “talking to both sides.”
At the same time, according to President Zelensky, there is no clear information about Trumpʼs plans for war. Ukraine has not yet been consulted about this. Kyiv fears that Trump and Putin may conclude an agreement without taking into account Ukrainian interests.
The US leader said on February 11 that Ukraine had “essentially agreed” to transfer half a trillion dollars in rare earth metals to Washington as payment for American military aid. Previously, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv was open to partnership on this issue.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brought a draft minerals agreement to Ukraine on February 12. Zelensky said after the meeting that the Ukrainian side would make a decision after reviewing the document.
- Bloomberg recently reported that the Trump administration would present a plan to end Russiaʼs war against Ukraine on February 14-16 at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. However, Kellogg denied this.
- Presumably, Putinʼs conversation with Trump on February 12 was already the second. The New York Post wrote about the first telephone conversation between Trump and Putin on February 9.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.