Trump Says ‘It’s Possible Putin Doesn’t Want To Make Deal’ – Urges Zelenskyy-Putin Meeting First

President Donald Trump cautioned on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not be ready to reach an agreement with Ukraine, adding that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should meet directly. 

“It’s possible that Putin doesn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends. “First, let them meet. I called Putin yesterday. I do have a good relationship. All that matters is that we get things. I don’t care about the relationship. I do have a good relationship with him, but I want to get things done.” 

He described relations between the two leaders as improving, albeit slowly. “Think Zelenskyy and Putin are doing okay. They’re getting along a little bit better,” the President said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have set up the meeting, I would’ve set up the trilat [trilateral meeting].”

He confirmed Putin had agreed during a Monday call to meet with Zelenskyy, framing that discussion as a prerequisite to any U.S.-brokered trilateral session. “If the two-person meeting works out, we’ll set up the trilateral meeting,” Trump said.

Still, Trump warned that progress would depend on concessions from both sides. “I hope President Putin is going to be good. If he’s not, it’s going to be a rough situation, and I hope that President Zelenskyy will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility also,” he said, noting that Ukraine should not have asked to be a part of NATO.

Trump also reiterated that U.S. troops won’t be deployed in Ukraine. “You have my assurance,” he said. “I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”

On Crimea, Trump repeated his criticism of past negotiations. “Crimea was given. Worst real estate deal ever… How did that work out? Not so good. Crimea is the apple of Ukraine. It’s so beautiful.”

Calling Russia a “powerful military nation,” Trump said any settlement would likely involve Ukraine ceding territory. “Ukraine is going to get a lot of land. But this was a war,” he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. markets appeared mixed during pre-market trade. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell  0.05%, while the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) dipped 0.16% and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) gained 0.24%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

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