Putin should make deal with Ukraine, Zelenskyy ready to negotiate: Trump on Russia-Ukraine war

WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin "should make a deal" with Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has said and asserted that they would meet as soon as they can.

Earlier, he warned his Russian counterpart to end the 'ridiculous war' in Ukraine or face high tariffs and further sanctions. Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, said this on Truth Social on Wednesday, a social media platform owned by him.

Talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, the president said, "I think he (Putin) should make a deal." When asked if he thinks that sanctions on Russia will force Putin to negotiate, he said, "I don't know."

"Russia should want to make a deal. Maybe they want to make a deal. I think, from what I hear, Putin would like to see me. And we'll meet as soon as we can. I'd meet immediately. Soldiers are being killed on the battlefield," he said.

"That battlefield is like no battlefield since World War II... and I have pictures that you don't want to see. Soldiers are being killed on a daily basis at numbers that we haven't seen in decades. It would be nice to end that war. It's a ridiculous war," the US president said.

In response to another question, Trump said Ukraine is ready to make a deal. "He's (Volodymyr Zelenskyy) ready to negotiate a deal. He'd like to stop. He's somebody that lost a lot of soldiers. So did Russia. Russia lost more soldiers, they lost 8,00,000 soldiers," Trump added.

Called out Russian President Putin by name in the social media post on Wednesday, Trumpp argued that he always had a good relationship with the leader, but that it was time to settle "this ridiculous War!"

He also warned that if there was not a ceasefire deal soon, he would “have no other choice” but to impose tariffs, taxes and sanctions on "anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries."