US President Donald Trump says he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal on ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump, who is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska early on Saturday (AEST) said he is unsure whether an immediate ceasefire can be achieved but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement with Putin.
“He really, I believe now, he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal, he’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to, and we’re going to find out,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio.
Earlier in the day, Putin said that the United States was making “sincere efforts” to end the war in Ukraine and suggested that Russia and the US could agree on a nuclear arms deal as part of a broader push to strengthen peace.
Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for the meeting, a presidential advisor said in a statement.
Follow-up meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy
Trump also mentioned during the Fox interview that he has three locations in mind for a follow-up meeting with Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, although he noted that a second meeting is not guaranteed.
He said staying in Alaska for a three-way summit would be the easiest scenario.
“Depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling up President Zelenskyy, and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet,” Trump said.
He said a second meeting featuring Putin and Zelenskyy, would likely dig deeper into boundary issues.
Zelenskyy has been adamant about not ceding territory that Russian forces occupy.
Trump said it would be up to Putin and Zelenskyy to strike an agreement.
“I’m not going to negotiate their deal. I’m going to let them negotiate their deal,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump will go into the talks hoping to achieve a halt to the fighting in Ukraine but that a comprehensive solution to the war will take longer.
“To achieve a peace, I think we all recognise that there’ll have to be some conversation about security guarantees. There’ll have to be some conversation about … territorial disputes and claims and what they’re fighting over,” Rubio told reporters at the State Department on Thursday.
Prisoner swap
Zelenskyy said overnight that Ukraine and Russia had carried out another prisoner swap.
“A new exchange, 84 people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
In the 67th exchange since the start of the war, Russian and Ukrainian authorities say both sides have exchanged 84 prisoners of war. Source: AP / AP
Both soldiers and civilians are included, the Ukrainian leader said, thanking the United Arab Emirates for its help in organising the exchange that took place on the border with Belarus.
The Ukrainian Staff for Prisoner of War Affairs said this was the 67th exchange since the start of the war.
The Russian defence ministry confirmed the handover, reporting the return of 84 Russian prisoners of war.
