President Donald Trump said today that Russia has offered a significant concession in peace talks with Ukraine by not “taking the whole country.”
Responding to a reporter question about what Russia was offering in peace talks, Trump responded: “Stopping the war.”
“Stop taking the whole country, pretty big concession,” Trump added during an Oval Office meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was widely denounced by other countries for invading Ukraine in February 2022, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has sharply pushed back on even formally recognizing Russian control over the region of Crimea.
Earlier in the week, Trump suggested Zelensky was holding up negotiations, saying the embattled leader has “no cards.” And after voicing displeasure at the deadly overnight Russian strikes on Kyiv, Trump said today he still believes Putin is serious about a peace deal.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy sharply disagreed with that characterization, saying in a post on X that: “Putin doesn’t want peace. He’s stalled every negotiation and keeps bombing civilians.”