Trump Demands Putin 'Make a Deal' to End Ukraine War
President Trump seems to have some challenging negotiating efforts set before him. His first step for getting Russia's President Putin to the negotiating table is imposing additional tariffs. Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he wasn't out to hurt the Russian people, and that he's always had a very good relationship with Putin. However, he insisted it was time to put a stop to the war, according to The Hill.
He went on to note that since Russia's economy is failing, that he's doing them a favor to push for settling the conflict now, before things get any worse.
"Let's get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "It's time to 'MAKE A DEAL.' NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!"
Putin Agrees with Trump That Crisis Could Have Been Avoided
Interestingly, Putin has agreed that if Trump had been in office, the war wouldn't have started.
"We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current U.S. president," Putin said in a Russian state television report picked up by the AP. "I couldn't disagree with him that if he had been president if they hadn't stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided."
Putin Says Willing to Negotiate
"We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them — we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are," Putin told Rossiya 1 state television in the interview picked up by VOA.
However, Russia's idea of negotiating is that Ukraine would be kept out of NATO (which Ukraine wants as protection against future Russian invasion) and that Russia would keep the land they've acquired through the war they started with Ukraine. However, ousting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and annexing the entire country would be preferable to him, according to CFR. So sure, Russia's ready to negotiate the end of the war, as long as these can be the terms.
Zelenskyy Adamant about NATO Membership and Keeping Ukraine United
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has no intention of giving in to these demands. For him, it's NATO membership and getting Russia out of Ukraine or nothing. Make no mistake: Russia has no intention of stopping with the Ukraine. Its history with the country of Georgia and the 2008 invasion supports this, as does the agreement that brought that war to an end. The agreement involved Russia keeping the pieces of Georgia that it had acquired, and Georgia was not able to join NATO (for protection against future Russian invasion) as it had desired. There might be a pattern here.
Certainly, Poland, which is on one of Russia's borders, is feeling threatened. Poland's Krzysztof Gawkowski, deputy premier in charge of digital affairs, went public with an alert about two weeks ago that Russia was using cyberwarfare against them, according to Gzero Media. Poland has been a part of NATO since 1999, according to Gov.Pl. Poland was also once a part of the old Soviet Bloc.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Douglas P. DeFelice/Stringer
Originally published January 27, 2025.
