US President Donald Trump believes that the “hatred between Zelenskyy and Putin” is the main reason Russia’s war against Ukraine is still continuing. In an interview with CBS News, he said that at the first meeting between the current presidents of Ukraine and Russia, Vladimir Putin was shown “enormous disrespect”.
But now, he is convinced, the sides are close to reaching an agreement. It is worth noting that he has repeated this claim since returning to the White House in the winter of 2025, but Russia has not, in that time, demonstrated any serious intention to negotiate rather than push Ukrainians towards capitulation.
Trump refused to answer the question of whom he trusts more: the Russian or the Ukrainian president. He also announced a “very important” meeting.
“I believe this war will end, and it will end soon. And the only reason it will end is me. There is tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Donald Trump said.
When the journalist remarked that Trump had recently decided to lift sanctions on Russian petroleum products, Trump replied that this was not the case.
“I didn’t lift the diesel sanctions. I made it possible for Russia to supply us, not the world, with thousands and thousands of barrels of oil, diesel, that are needed,” he said.
Trump repeatedly stressed that he allowed Ukraine to receive weapons that destroy tanks, and reproached his predecessor Barack Obama for supplying “bedsheets”. The journalist noted that the US is not currently helping Ukraine with weapons — Europe is.
“No, it’s us. We supply the weapons,” he said, to which the journalist responded that Europe is paying for those supplies.
“Biden gave them cash and weapons worth $350bn (this figure is not confirmed by either Ukraine or the Pentagon, which in February last year estimated the volume of aid to Ukraine at $183bn. – Ed.). I didn’t give them anything. I gave it to Europe, sold it at full price, and they paid us. And not only that: their $350bn — I felt so bad about it, because I thought it was so stupid. Europe has money. Europe would have paid, but nobody asked. So we were just giving them weapon after weapon after weapon, and we were supplying those weapons. By the way, Ukraine had the courage to use it. Because you still need courage to use it, and they were very formidable. But they had the best weapons in the world. And we got nothing for it,” the American leader said.
The journalist noted that, in return, everyone gained Ukraine’s independence. Trump said it “has not been gained yet”. He added that the war would end with Ukraine in a slightly altered form.
Commenting on the shutdown of high-speed Starlink for the Ukrainian military, during which defenders lost the ability to shoot down Russian jet-powered drones with interceptors, Trump said he did not know who made the relevant decision, but it was not him.