Trump says Putin may not seek peace in Ukraine, warns of 'rough situation' for Russian leader

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he remains hopeful that Russian President Vladimir Putin will take steps toward ending the war in Ukraine but acknowledged that Putin may have no intention of making a deal, a scenario Trump described as a “rough situation” for the Russian leader.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he expects greater clarity on Putin’s intentions “in the next couple of weeks.”

However, he offered no concrete details on the potential security guarantees he has previously mentioned as part of a future settlement for Ukraine.

Trump reaffirmed his longstanding opposition to deploying American troops in Ukraine, emphasising a diplomatic path over direct military involvement as the war with Russia drags on.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem (reaching a peace deal), to be honest with you. I think Putin is tired of it. I think they’re all tired of it, but you never know,” Fox News quoted Trump as saying.

“We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks … It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal,” he added, leaving open the possibility of a diplomatic deadlock.

Trump had previously warned of imposing further sanctions on Russia and on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil if the Kremlin refuses to pursue peace.

His comments follow a high-stakes summit at the White House on Monday, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, joined by leaders from Germany, France, and the UK, discussed a potential roadmap to end the war.

Zelenskyy praised the summit as a “major step forward” toward resolving what has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II and signaled plans for a trilateral meeting with both Trump and Putin in the coming weeks.

Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump marked a notable improvement in their diplomatic relationship, especially after their contentious Oval Office encounter in February. However, despite a renewed sense of cooperation, key questions remain — particularly regarding Russia’s willingness to engage in any peace process and the nature of the security guarantees Washington may offer Kyiv.

With more than a million people estimated to have been killed or wounded since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the road to peace is expected to be difficult. Analysts caution that Zelenskyy may ultimately be forced to make difficult concessions to end the war.

No let-up in attacks

Despite a temporary sense of relief in Kyiv following high-level talks in Washington, fighting on the ground showed no signs of slowing.

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles in an overnight assault — the largest aerial attack of the month so far.

The Ukrainian energy ministry reported that the strikes targeted key infrastructure in the central Poltava region, including the country’s only oil refinery, sparking large fires.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Russia returned the bodies of 1,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian officials said. In exchange, Moscow received the remains of 19 Russian soldiers, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

“The good news (from Monday’s summit) is that there was no blow-up. Trump didn’t demand Ukrainian capitulation nor cut off support. The mood music was positive and the trans-Atlantic alliance lives on,” Reuters quoted John Foreman, a former British defence attache to Kyiv and Moscow, as saying.

“On the downside, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the nature of security guarantees and what exactly the US has in mind,” Foreman added.

Ukraine’s allies held talks in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” format on Tuesday, discussing additional sanctions to crank up the pressure on Russia. The grouping has also agreed that planning teams will meet US counterparts in the coming days to advance plans for security guarantees for Ukraine.

Nato military leaders were expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine, with US General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expected to attend the meeting virtually, officials told Reuters.

“We are now actively working at all levels on the specifics, on what the architecture of the guarantees will look like, with all members of the Coalition of the Willing, and very concretely with the United States,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Tiptoeing around Trump

Russia has made no explicit commitment to a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow did not reject any formats for discussing peace in Ukraine but any meeting of national leaders “must be prepared with utmost thoroughness”.

Putin has said Russia will not tolerate troops from the Nato alliance in Ukraine. He has also shown no sign of backing down from demands for territory, including land not under Russia’s military control, following his summit with Trump last Friday in Alaska.

Neil Melvin, director, International Security at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said Russia could drag out the war while trying to deflect US pressure with a protracted peace negotiation.

“I think behind this there’s a struggle going on between Ukraine and the Europeans on one side, and the Russians on the other, not to present themselves to Trump as the obstacle to his peace process,” Melvin said.

“They’re all tiptoeing around Trump” to avoid any blame, he said, adding that on security guarantees, “the problem is that what Trump has said is so vague it’s very hard to take it seriously”.

With inputs from agencies