Trump said that Ukraine and Russia are close to reaching an agreement, and named the main obstacle to peace

U.S. President Donald Trump believes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin are moving closer to reaching a peace agreement.

He said this to reporters at a briefing on Tuesday, March 24, after the swearing-in ceremony for the new Secretary of Homeland Security.

“I would like to see President Putin and President Zelensky sit down at the table and come to an agreement. I think they are already close to that, although I have been saying this for quite some time. I have settled eight wars. All of them should have been more difficult than this one. This one should have been the easiest. But these are two people who truly hate each other. You see that hatred does not help in making deals. These are people who do not like each other very much,” the White House chief said.

On March 15, Donald Trump said he was surprised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “unwillingness” to reach a peace agreement.

“I’m surprised that Zelensky does not want to make a deal. Tell Zelensky to make a deal, because Putin is ready to make a deal,” Trump said, adding that “Zelensky is much harder to deal with.”

On February 13, the U.S. president had also said that Russia “is seeking a peace agreement,” and that President Volodymyr Zelensky needed to act quickly to seize the moment.

“Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky needs to get moving, otherwise he will lose a great opportunity. He has to act,” Trump said.

On February 24, Bloomberg reported that U.S. peace efforts had reached an impasse, but that Washington was seeking to broker an agreement between Ukraine and Russia before Trump takes part in celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4. Zelensky said he had no such information.

On March 5, Trump said he was “disappointed” by Volodymyr Zelensky’s actions because he “needs to get to work” and conclude a peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to the U.S. president, he believes that the Russian president is ready for negotiations to end the war.