‘They both want it to end’: Trump denies US halted sharing intel with Ukraine

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied that Washington had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine and said he was working with both Kyiv and Moscow to end the Russia-Ukraine war.Addressing reporters before departing for a campaign in Alaska, Trump said both countries wanted the conflict to end but did not know how to reach that point."No, we haven't. We help them. But we're really hoping to get to a final answer. We want the war ended. We are helping them, and we are sharing Intel. We want the war to end. So, we're working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end," Trump said.When asked what gave him confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to end the war more than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said his experience in negotiations informed his assessment."Only in dealing, that's what I've done my whole life is deals. I think Putin wants it probably. They both want it to end, and they don't know how to get to that point. There's a lot of hatred there between the two of them. We're going to get them there," he said.He also defended his diesel deal with Russia, saying the arrangement was intended to supply the global market rather than the United States. He argued that the move would help address high energy prices.

"Nobody told me anything. That's a diesel deal, not for us. That's being released into the world. That's not being released to us. That's a diesel deal that's going to be released into the world for the world market. Because the world market suffers from high prices. And when you knock out diesel refineries, that's not a great thing," Trump said.Asked whether Russia had violated the energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, Trump declined to give an immediate assessment."I'll let you know about that later," he said. "But they're hitting each other. But it'll all come to an end," Trump added.His remarks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday accused Russia of ignoring US President Donald Trump's call for an energy ceasefire, saying Moscow had launched heavy strikes across Ukraine despite Kyiv observing a pause in attacks on Russian energy assets."Ukraine has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the two days since the American President announced an energy ceasefire.

But Russia did not heed the American President," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.According to Zelenskyy, Russian forces launched more than 100 weapons, including jet-powered drones, loitering munitions and ballistic missiles, from the previous evening through Tuesday. While Ukrainian forces intercepted a significant portion of the incoming weapons, several struck civilian and critical infrastructure across 19 Ukrainian regions in just two days.Trump had claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was more willing than Zelenskyy to reach a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He reiterated that both leaders needed to come together to end the conflict amid questions over alleged violations of the proposed energy ceasefire.