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President Donald Trump said a ceasefire agreement is not necessary when pressed about his administration’s efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine during a high-stakes meeting with Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy at the White House Monday.
“Mr. President. Last week you warned of what you called severe consequences if a 30 day ceasefire or any type of ceasefire were not agreed to by Russia. Will there be severe consequences? Does that change because of….” a reported asked Trump from the Oval Office during a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy.
Trump responded that a ceasefire is not necessary, pointing to other peace deals he inked this year that did not include ceasefires as wars raged.
“I don’t think you need ceasefire. You know, if you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires. And I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why, you know, one country or the other wouldn’t want it,” Trump responded.
TRUMP: WE’RE GOING STRAIGHT TO RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE DEAL, ‘NOT A MERE CEASEFIRE’
Trump has notched other peace agreements this year, such as a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in June, and the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace agreement inked earlier this month.
TRUMP SAYS HE ‘WON’T BE HAPPY’ IF PUTIN DOES NOT AGREE TO A CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE DURING ALASKA SUMMIT
“I didn’t do any ceasefires. Would I like … I like the concept. You know, I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, because you’d stop killing people immediately as opposed to in two weeks or one week or whatever it takes. But we can work a deal where we’re working on a peace deal while they’re fighting. They have to fight. I wish they could stop. I’d like them to stop, but strategically, that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other. But all of these deals I made without even the mention of the word ceasefire.”
Trump traveled to Alaska on Friday for an historic face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said ahead of the meeting that Russia would face “severe consequences” if Putin did not agree to end the war.
ZELENSKYY, AHEAD OF TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING, SAYS THERE IS ‘NO SIGN’ RUSSIA WANTS TO END THE WAR
War has raged between Russia and Ukraine since February 2024, with Trump repeatedly arguing the war would not have broken out if he had been president during former President Joe Biden’s tenure from 2021 to January of this year.
Following the Putin meeting, which did not include a ceasefire or peace agreement, Trump has urged Ukraine to accept a land swap deal with Russia, arguing it is the most efficient way to end the war.
Trump did previously tout ceasefires agreements as he worked to secure peace in other nations earlier this year, such as in May when he celebrated the end to India and Pakistan’s conflict via a ceasefire.
“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday that he intended to streamline the peace deal, and that a “mere ceasefire agreement” would not suffice.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday.
On Monday, Zelensky is also set to join a cohort of European heads of state who are also visiting the White House, including: French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni , and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
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