Frustration is mounting as President Donald Trump seeks a deal to end the war in Ukraine, his press secretary told reporters Monday morning.
“He is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries,” Karoline Leavitt said. “He wants to see a permanent ceasefire.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a temporary ceasefire this morning, she added, but Trump will only accept a permanent deal to “stop the killing [and] the bloodshed.” He remains optimistic he can strike a deal.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican, where both leaders attended Pope Francis’s funeral. However, a peace deal, which Trump promised on the campaign trail, remains elusive.
“He’s also being realistic as well,” Leavitt said. “Both leaders need to come to the table to negotiate their way out of this. I do think that the president meeting with President Zelensky shows that he is exuding a lot of effort and time into this because he wants to be a peacemaker president.”
Trump spoke on the matter himself aboard Air Force One over the weekend. The president said he thought the meeting with Zelensky went well, but added that we’ll learn a lot over the next few days.
“I want to see what happens with respect to Russia,” Trump said. “Because Russia had been surprised and disappointed, very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places after discussions.”
A sticking point in negotiations has been whether or not Ukraine will recognize Russian claims to Crimea. Trump’s take is that Crimea was handed over in 2014 during former President Barack Obama’s administration, and that he is therefore the one who should be asked about it.
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As to whether or not he believes Putin can be trusted to uphold a peace deal, Trump offered a cryptic response.
“I’ll let you know in about two weeks,” he said.
