President Donald Trump on Friday said he believes there's a genuine opportunity to broker a peace deal this weekend between Russia and Ukraine, claiming both sides now want to negotiate, even as he acknowledged the persistent obstacle of competing interests.
"Well, I think we have a good shot at it," Trump told the New York Post on Friday afternoon, ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's scheduled visit to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.
“I think they want to do it now, and I think that Russia wants to do it. But every time one wants to do it, the other doesn’t,” Trump admitted.
Trump asserted that ending the war in Ukraine represents his greatest diplomatic challenge.
“I settled eight wars, and this is the most difficult of them all. But I think we’ll get it done," he said.
Trump has repeatedly said he has ended eight wars, typically including conflicts involving Israel–Hamas, Israel–Iran, India–Pakistan, Rwanda–Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thailand–Cambodia, Armenia–Azerbaijan, Egypt–Ethiopia, and Serbia–Kosovo. However, multiple outlets have described the claim as exaggerated, misleading, or false
Zelenskyy is set to arrive with a revised 20-point peace plan centered around establishing a demilitarized "free economic zone" in Donbas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far remained silent on the specifics. Putin's primary demand remains Ukraine's surrender of heavily fortified territory in northern Donetsk.
“It has been agreed to continue the dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
Trump hasn't endorsed the revised plan, telling Politico, on Friday, “He doesn’t have anything until I approve it. So we’ll see what he’s got."