WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted efforts to stop the war in Ukraine are making progress, appearing to soften his tone on President Vladmir Putin one day after expressing blistering frustration at his Russian counterpart. In the same breath, Trump accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of pulling away from signing a rare earth minerals deal with the U.S.
“There's always conflict, but I think we're making a lot of progress getting it stopped,” Trump told reporters traveling with him back to Washington, adding, “It's step by step.”
Asked if there is a deadline for Putin to accept a ceasefire, as Ukraine has already accepted a U.S.-backed 30-day pause, the president would not give one but sought to convey that he did not want to be strung along.
“There’s a psychological deadline,” he said. “If I think they're tapping us along, I will not be happy about it."
Still, the president expressed confidence in his Russian counterpart, saying doesn’t believe he will “go back on his word” and touting, as he has done often in the past, their relationship.
“We’ve always gotten along well,” Trump said.
The language marked a sharp shift from just a day earlier when he told NBC News in a phone interview he was “very angry” and “pissed off” about Putin undermining Zelenskyy’s credibility as a leader after international outlets reported the Russian president called for a “transitional administration” for Ukraine.
In that interview, Trump also threatened additional sanctions and tariffs on Russia if it held up talks.
Despite his gentler rhetoric Sunday and Trump himself criticizing Zelesnkyy for not holding new elections — something the country cannot do while under martial law in wartime — the president still made clear he didn’t think such comments were helpful to getting to an agreement.
“Because when he considers Zelenskyy not credible — he's supposed to be making a deal with him, whether you like him or you don't like him,” Trump said.
He conceded that there is a “tremendous hatred” between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Trump went on to direct his ire at Zelenskyy, claiming he is “trying to back out” of another shot at getting the critical minerals deal in place that was set to be signed during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the White House last month. Instead, it ended in shambles and with no agreement in place, further straining the already tense relations between the leaders.
“And if he does that he's got some problems, big, big problems,” Trump said about Zelesnkyy potentially pulling out. “We made a deal on rare earth, and now he's saying, well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.”
The U.S. president suggested the Ukrainian leader wants his country to be a member of the NATO military alliance as part of an agreement, something the Trump administration has unambiguously ruled out. The previous U.S. administration had said Ukraine would eventually join the alliance.
“He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO,” Trump said. “He understands that.”
The White House has been unequivocal about its desire for a ceasefire in the more than three-year-old war. Separate talks between top U.S. officials and their counterparts in both countries held in Saudi Arabia this month led to Ukraine agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire.
The Kremlin on Monday responded to the weekend’s rhetoric calling efforts to end the war a “drawn-out process,” multiple outlets, including the Associated Press reported.
Trump also told NBC News that he plans to speak with Putin this week.
