President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war in “two weeks or less,” but later said a little more time might be acceptable.
Trump’s deadline comes a day after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Vatican City while they were in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral.
“I think the meeting went well, we’ll see what happens over the next few days. We’ll probably learn a lot,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey before returning to Washington.
Trump said he was “very disappointed” that Russia continued to carry out missile and drone strikes in Ukraine days after he had implored Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the attacks while negotiations continued.
When asked what he and Zelenskyy talked about, Trump said Zelenskyy emphasized their need for more weapons.
“He told me that he needs more weapons and we’re going to see what happens — I want to see what, with respect to Russia — with Russia I’ve been surprised and disappointed when they did the bombing,” Trump said.
When asked what he wants from Putin, Trump replied, “I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal. We have the confines of a deal I believe and I want him to sign it and be done with it and just go back to life.”
Trump also said that Ukraine reclaiming its territory in Crimea that Russia occupied in 2014 would be complicated while blaming former President Barack Obama for allowing Russia to take the region. Asked whether he thought Ukraine would give up Crimea, Trump said “I think so.”
Earlier Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russia and Ukraine are closer to a deal after Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy, but a deal is still not there.
He said the U.S. will now need to weigh if it’s time for the U.S. to step in to mediate talks.
