Russia-Ukraine peace deal could be done ‘this week’, says White House press secretary

The White House press secretary's remarks gain significance in the backdrop of Donald Trump terming Ukraine president as ‘not very important’ for peace talks.

Published on: Feb 23, 2025, 06:52:15 IST

By HT News Desk

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Saturday said that US President Donald Trump is confident of striking a peace deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, saying that such an agreement could be reached as soon as this coming week.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that president Donald Trump is very confident of getting the peace deal done this week. (Reuters)

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn, Leavitt said, "Right now, the president and his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict. The president is very confident that we can get it done this week."

The remark comes just a day after Donald Trump suggested that it is not essential for Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be a part of the negotiations that are aimed to end the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.

"I don't think he's very important to be in the meetings. He has been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals," the US president told Fox News.

However, he later claimed that Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to 'get together' to end the war between their nations.

ALSO READ | Trump says ‘had very good talks' with Russia's Putin, Ukraine's Zelensky ‘not very important’ to be in meeting

Leavitt's remarks also gain significance in the backdrop of a possible face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin, with Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov telling the state media that preparations were underway for one such meet.

Ryabkov said that the possible summit could involve talks on the broader global issues, not just a standalone discussion of the war in Ukraine. "The question is about starting to move toward normalizing relations between our countries, finding ways to resolve the most acute and potentially very, very dangerous situations, of which there are many, Ukraine among them."

However he said that the preparatory efforts of such a meeting are at an early stage, saying that in order to make it happen, there needs to be "the most intensive preparatory work".

ALSO READ | ‘Terrible job’: Donald Trump doubles down on Volodymyr Zelensky as tensions rise over Russia-Ukraine war

Earlier this week, US and Russian representatives met in Saudi Arabia and reached an agreement to start working towards ending he war in Ukraine, improving their diplomatic as well as economic ties.

Senior US officials have reportedly suggested that in order for the conflict to end, Ukraine will have to give up its aim of joining NATO and retaining the 20 per cent of its seized territory from Russia.

After the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told the Associated Press that two sides agreed broadly to focus on three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies, to create a high-level support team for Ukraine peace talks and to explore closure relations and cooperation.

However, Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine will not accept any outcome from the US-Russia talks as Kyiv did not take part in them.

While acknowledging that Russia did invade Ukraine, US President Donald Trump on Saturday also said that he is dealing with both Putin and Zelenskyy. He also sounded confidence about war's conclusion and said, "I think that thing is going to end. It's got to end."

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HT News Desk
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