Trump says Zelenskyy 'is going to have to make a deal' with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "is going to have to make a deal" with Russia to end the Kremlin's war on his country, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

The comments came amid an ongoing impasse over an announced sit-down between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was initially set to follow a historic summit Trump held with the Russian leader in Alaska. It has failed to materialize for weeks after Russia initially ruled it out, only to later invite Zelenskyy to Moscow, which Kyiv views as a non-starter due to security concerns.

Trump said the Ukrainian and Russian leaders "hate each other," and said "it looks like I have to sit in the room with them, because they can't sit in a room together."

"There's great hatred there. But no, that meeting accomplished a lot," he said, referring to his Alaska summit.

The president reiterated his earlier demand that Europe halt all purchases of Russian oil "immediately."

"They've got to stop immediately, not fair to us. They're purchasing Russian oil, and we have to do this," he said in response to a question on whether his administration would have to apply more pressure on Europe.

Earlier Tuesday, Zelenskyy demanded a “clear position” from Trump on ending the over three-and-a-half-year on his country.

“Before we end the war, I really want to have all the agreements in place. I want to have a document that is supported by the US and all European partners. This is very important. To make this happen, we need a clear position of President Trump,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Sky News.

In reaction to Trump’s remarks urging Europe to stop buying Russian oil, Zelenskyy said he believes Washington is strong enough to “take decisions of their own” and that his US counterpart can give Ukraine additional air defense systems.

"I'm sure the US can apply enough sanctions in order to hurt the Russian economy, plus Donald Trump has enough force to make Putin afraid of him,” he said.

The Ukrainian president expressed agreement with Trump on Europe needing to stop buying Russian oil and gas, but said the US should not wait to impose further sanctions on Moscow.

“Europe has already introduced 18 sanctions packages against Russia. And all that's lacking now is a strong sanctions package from the US,” he said.

Trump has led efforts to end the war in Ukraine since beginning his second term in January. He met Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, but failed to reach a breakthrough. Sticking points for a potential deal are said to be disagreements over security guarantees for Ukraine and land swaps with Russia, which, according to estimates, controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.