Trump: Putin and Zelensky want peace but don’t know how to achieve it

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, October 13, that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky both want to end the war in Ukraine but don’t know how to do it, adding: “We will help them.”

Trump made the remarks to reporters before departing on a campaign trip to Alaska — a day after he said Putin was more interested in a deal than Zelensky. When asked why he was confident of this, Trump replied: “I’ve been making deals my whole life. I think Putin most likely wants this.”

“There’s a lot of hatred between the two of them. They both want it to end. They just don’t know how to get there,” Trump said.

Trump also denied reports that Washington had stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv. He said the U.S. is “actually helping them come to a final resolution.” On Monday, October 12, before departing the White House for Ohio, he called the conflict a “ridiculous war” and claimed that 32,000 people had been killed in it that month. He also said at the time that Zelensky needed to be persuaded to become interested in a deal.

The backdrop to these statements was a “energy ceasefire” announced by Trump. On Sunday, October 11, he wrote on the social network Truth Social: “An energy ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine goes into effect immediately. Both sides have agreed.” Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, but then accused Moscow of attacking six energy facilities in a single day, leaving 33 people injured. When Trump was informed of the strike on an energy facility, he responded: “I’m not sure about that. We’ll check.” Asked about the disputed ceasefire, he said: “They agreed because I said they agreed.”

The Kremlin did not confirm the ceasefire. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We do not want a ceasefire, we want lasting peace.” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that Zelensky, in his view, “does not deserve a respite.” According to the Ukrainian outlet UNN, the Kremlin also rejected a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to hold elections in Ukraine.