President Trump on Tuesday urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal and end the brutal four-year war with Russia, saying Kyiv doesn’t have the manpower to defeat Russia and the world’s patience is growing thin.
“Ukraine has to want to make a deal because the United States has spent a fortune. Europe has spent a fortune. Europe’s tired of it right now. They’re tired of it right now. And if they don’t make a deal, ultimately, it’s just going to get worse,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Mr. Trump said that Russia keeps marching forward and, because of its larger population, can put more boots on the ground, adding that Ukraine just can’t keep up.
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“They have an unlimited supply of people,” Mr. Trump said of Russia. “Ukraine has lost a lot of people. Russia has lost a lot of people. Russia, though, is a giant nation. Ukraine is not.”
Mr. Trump’s increased determination to push Ukraine towards a deal comes the same day White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Mr. Zelenskyy in Oslo, Norway. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, will participate in the meeting remotely.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb will also take part in the discussion.
The next day, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner will fly to St. Petersburg, Russia, to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in his hometown. While there, they are expected to also try to win the release of hostage Steven Hubbard, a 72-year-old American teacher.
Republican lawmakers are incensed about Mr. Trump’s stance on Ukraine — but are powerless to stop him.
Over the weekend, Mr. Trump agreed to waive sanctions on Moscow to allow the purchase of Russian diesel fuel, a sign that the rift between Washington and Kyiv is getting larger.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters in India, disputed reports that the U.S. has shifted its policy away from sharing intelligence and providing weapons to Ukraine.
Mr. Rubio insisted that U.S. policy toward Ukraine “remains the same.”
“Even this talk about I think on the 13th and again on the 18th there were airstrikes in Ukraine that were not detected — that is not because America did not provide information,” Mr. Rubio said.
He added that there may have been a technical issue on the Ukrainians’ end that made it difficult for them “to take the information that was being provided and systemize and react to it.”
Mr. Rubio said he discussed on a call with Mr. Zelenskyy several accusations that have circulated in the media regarding alleged changes in U.S. policy, including accusations of an intentional throttling of SpaceX’s Starshield military satellite service and a halt of intelligence sharing.
The secretary clarified that President Trump made no changes to U.S. policy regarding support for Ukraine.
In a post on X, Mr. Zelenskyy thanked Mr. Rubio for his “clear position” and “readiness to help.”
Mr. Rubio told reporters that demand for U.S.-made missile interceptors is high around the world. He clarified that just because a country doesn’t get the equipment doesn’t mean Washington has specifically denied it.
“We have our own needs too. We have minimum standards that we have to meet internally in our base presence all over the world. That includes our bases in Europe, as an example. There’s minimum standards that our Defense Department, our Department of War, requires to protect these facilities, and obviously in the Middle East,” he said.
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