‘I don’t care how it’s done’: Trump pressures Ukraine to cut peace deal

Amid escalating tensions with Ukrainian person Volodymyr Zelenskyy, United States President Donald Trump has accrued unit connected the Eastern European state to marque a woody that would extremity the warfare with Russia.

Speaking astatine the White House connected Tuesday, Trump doubled down connected his efforts to blasted the Ukrainian president for holding up bid efforts that would bring the years-long struggle to a close.

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“Zelenskyy has to privation to settee this war, and if helium doesn’t, I deliberation it’s going to beryllium a precise atrocious thing,” Trump said arsenic helium talked astir Russia having an “unlimited” proviso of radical to nonstop successful the fight.

Moments later, the US president referenced a contentious Oval Office gathering helium held with Zelenskyy successful February 2025, soon aft returning to power.

Zelenskyy, Trump said, could person made a “better deal” then. “He’s going to person to privation to marque a deal, due to the fact that I don’t deliberation his radical are going to basal for it immoderate longer,” Trump told reporters.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president met US peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff and European leaders successful Oslo, Norway, to sermon ending Russia’s war.

In a station connected societal media aft the gathering concluded, Zelenskyy said, without providing specifics, that his state has “some wide ideas connected however to get to peace”.

“We are agreed with our European partners successful this effort, and we privation the Americans to instrumentality these ideas to the Russians,” Zelenskyy wrote. “One of the important ideas is to determination to a imaginable trilateral gathering of the leaders to code the issues that lone the leaders tin do.”

The Ukrainian person added that Witkoff would caput to Russia connected Wednesday, wherever bid discussions are expected to continue.

“Let’s spot what Putin has to say,” Zelenskyy said.

When asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin should conscionable Zelenskyy, Trump said determination was “tremendous” hatred betwixt the 2 leaders.

“It’s hard for them to beryllium successful the aforesaid room,” Trump said. “I don’t attraction however it’s done.”

Starlink controversy

Trump’s remarks travel arsenic the White House continues to compression Ukraine successful bid to unit the state to chopped a woody with Russia.

Last week, Ukrainian officials reported slowdowns with Starshield, the military-grade mentation of the Starlink outer system, tally by the aerospace institution SpaceX.

Ukraine relies connected the exertion for communications and quality to forestall Russian attacks.

It is unclear who ordered restrictions that bounds Ukraine’s entree to Starshield. SpaceX CEO and Trump state Elon Musk pointed a digit astatine the White House.

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits connected velocity oregon usage are decided by the US subject and yet POTUS,” helium wrote connected October 14.

The quality bureau Reuters besides reported that the bid came from wrong the White House, citing 2 US officials and a Western official.

But a study successful The Wall Street Journal connected Tuesday claimed US officials had blamed Musk himself for the slowdown, saying the SpaceX CEO ordered it past week. Trump and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth person some denied that the authorities directed the restrictions, with Hegseth pushing work towards SpaceX.

Building ties with Putin

Trump, meanwhile, has sought to easiness the historically tense relations betwixt Russia and the US.

In August 2025, Trump invited Putin to Alaska, the Russian leader’s archetypal sojourn to US ungraded successful a decade.

More recently, Trump has expressed openness this period to gathering with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, arsenic portion of a trilateral treatment connected denuclearisation.

Trump besides announced this period that helium struck a woody to get diesel from Russia, marking a stunning reversal of years of US unit connected Moscow’s economy.

The US president besides waived caller economical restrictions that would person been imposed nether the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a bipartisan instrumentality helium signed 1 period earlier, successful honour of a precocious senator.

It would person imposed sanctions connected Russian officials, banks and tankers, arsenic good arsenic tariffs connected countries that acquisition Russian oil.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the determination connected Tuesday, saying the instrumentality allowed the waiver done a proviso embedded successful the legislation.

“The president chose to usage a nationalist information waiver to not instantly instrumentality those [sanctions and restrictions], due to the fact that helium recognises that these things person to beryllium looked astatine successful their totality,” Rubio said successful an interrogation with India’s News18.

Rubio argued that Trump was engaged successful a “balancing act” successful deciding the grade of US-imposed economical restrictions and however they could interaction the remainder of the world.

“When you bash that pressure, sometimes it spills implicit and has a antagonistic interaction connected different countries,” Rubio said.