Trump says Putin wants Ukraine peace deal; Zelensky offers to halt refinery strikes if Russia reciprocates

The US President on Sunday claimed that Moscow was keen to secure an agreement, while casting doubt on Kyiv's readiness to compromise

A day after claiming that Ukraine need a new leader in place of Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was eager to reach a settlement to end the war with Kyiv. Trump again criticised President Zelensky for repeatedly missing opportunities to pursue peace negotiations.

Trump says Putin offered Ukraine peace deal; Zelensky says will halt refinery strikes if Russia stops attacks (Reuters/AFP)

Addressing reporters at Joint Base Andrews following his return from a political rally in Tennessee, Trump claimed that Moscow was keen to secure an agreement, while casting doubt on Kyiv's readiness to compromise.

“I think that Russia would like to make a deal, and we’ve had it back and forth. But Russia would like to make a deal,” Trump said, according to ANI.

He further remarked, “But as I said, this is something that could have been solved many times, but for whatever reason, Zelensky does not want to make a deal.”

Reiterating his view that Putin wanted to bring the hostilities to a close, Trump added, “President Putin would like to see a settlement strongly.”

"Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure. Any de-escalation steps must be reciprocal and backed by real guarantees," Zelensky said in a post on X.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha pushed back on Trump's comments, writing on X late Saturday that Zelenskyy was leading the country through a war for its independence. “He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide. Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well,” Sybiha wrote.

Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange fire. Russian strikes killed at least seven people in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, officials said on Saturday.

A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a data centre belonging to Russian technology giant Yandex, the company said on Friday, marking the second strike on one of its facilities in as many days. Yandex, often dubbed "Russia's Google", operates the country's most popular search engine, as well as food-ordering and taxi apps used by tens of millions of people.