Trump insists peace talks with Russia are going 'really well' despite Putin being accused of 'delaying tactics'
14 March 2025, 21:15
Donald Trump has insisted that peace talks with Russia are going "really well", despite claims that Putin is trying to delay a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
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Speaking during a visit to the Justice Department on Friday, Trump said talks were "tough" but there have been some good results so far.
He said if he had not stepped in to put an end to the conflict, it could have resulted in World War III.
"We've had some very good calls today with Russia and with Ukraine," Trump said.
"They've agreed for a ceasefire if we can get it with Russia. And it's not easy, it's a tough one, but I think we're doing it."
He went on to say: "It's going really, really well... I think we're doing well with Russia.
"We're speaking with President Putin. We want to get the war over.
"Not only have we spent maybe $350 billion to Europe's $100 billion, and yet we're across the ocean, far away, so it shouldn't have been that way."
It comes after Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron accused Putin of adding unnecessary complications to the agreement.
Putin said on Thursday that he agreed with the US-brokered ceasefire deal in principle, but that there were "nuances" he thought needed to be addressed.
Onlookers believe those conditions include a requirement that Ukraine does not join NATO, and that its allies stop arming it.
Zelenskyy said that the return of Ukrainian prisoners and an "unconditional" 30-day ceasefire represented two "quick" steps that would help progress towards "a just and lasting peace".
He also hit out at Russia for "deliberately setting conditions that only complicate and drag out the process", and for "sabotaging diplomacy". On Thursday he criticised Putin for being "manipulative" in his initial response to the deal.
Meanwhile Macron said: "Russia must now accept the US-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Russian aggression in Ukraine must end. Abuses must stop. So must delaying statements."
The G7 group of leading nations also called on Russia to accept the ceasefire.
Speaking earlier on Friday, Trump said that his envoy Steve Witkoff had had "good" and "productive" talks with Putin.
But the US president also said that Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region of Russia were "completely surrounded" and in a "very bad and vulnerable position".
He said that he had requested to Putin that their "lives be spared" to avoid a "horrible massacre". Ukraine has denied being surrounded in Kursk and said its troops had been pulled back.
Writing on his TruthSocial site, Trump said there was "a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end".
Putin sets out 'impossible' terms in ceasefire deal
"Crooked Joe Biden got us into a real 'mess' with Russia (and EVERYTHING ELSE!), but I'm going to get us out," he said.
"Millions of people are needlessly dead, never to be seen again…and there will be many more to follow if we don't get the Cease Fire and Final Agreement with Russia completed and signed.
"There would have been NO WAR if I were President. It just, 100%, would not have happened."
Former Head of the Army, Sir Peter Wall, discusses ceasefire prospects
Putin appeared to agree to the terms of the ceasefire deal in a Kremlin press conference on Thursday, before setting out a number of harsh conditions for peace that appeared to contradict any such agreement.
The list of ceasefire demands set out by Russia include guarantees that Ukraine will not receive weapons shipments from international backers or train soldiers during any 30-day pause.
Zelenskyy hit out at the "very manipulative" Russian president on Thursday night, after his press conference. He said on Friday that Putin wanted to extend the war.
He also insisted any deal should include recognition of Ukrainian territory captured by Russia, harsh limits on the size of Ukraine’s army, in addition to a full ban on Nato membership and peacekeepers on the ground.
Former US official under George Bush discusses Ukraine ceasefire with Ben Kentish
A ceasefire should lead to "an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis", Putin said.
The Russian leader, who many claim has little incentive to agree to any such deal, has set out large-scale demands that many have branded 'unrealistic' in a bid to draw out negotiations.
The Russian leader also claimed his nation was fully in control of the Kursk region, adding that Ukrainian troops there "have been isolated".
Putin's scepticism over the terms of a ceasefire deal with Ukraine has led many to highlight that the prolonging of any negotiations is a 'signature move' on Russia's part that has been repeated many time before.
Zelenskyy said on Thursday: "Putin, of course, is afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, he wants to kill Ukrainians.
"That's why they in Moscow are framing the idea of silence with such preconditions that nothing will happen at all or that it will not happen for as long as possible."
"As we have always said, the only one who will drag things out, the only one who will be unconstructive, is Russia," Zelenskyy said.
"They want a war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war - day after day."
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine's allies should continue to put pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table.
