Trump says Putin 'would like to see a settlement' in Ukraine war
JOINT BASE ANDREWS: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would like to reach a deal on the war in Ukraine, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of resisting a compromise.
"Russia would like to make a deal... but for whatever reason, Zelenskyy does not want to make a deal," Trump told reporters.
"President Putin would like to see a settlement, strongly," Trump said of what the Russian leader told him on Friday when the pair spoke on the phone.
Trump criticised the Ukrainian president for not holding an election since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"I think he should have an election and he could have settled this thing many times," Trump said.
Trump and Zelenskyy traded barbs on Saturday after Washington moved to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Trump told reporters that Zelenskyy had disobeyed his orders not to strike Russian refineries and that the attacks risked worsening global fuel shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Zelenskyy called Trump's diesel deal with Moscow a "weak decision".
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