President Donald Trump says Ukraine and Russia are “making progress” toward a peace deal, but he conceded the conflict remains “difficult” to resolve.
Trump made the comments Tuesday evening during a call with reporters aboard Air Force One, providing insight into ongoing talks between Ukraine and Russia. He also said that US envoy Steve Witkoff would soon hold talks in Moscow, possibly together with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
“We’re having good conversations,” Trump said. “Ukraine is doing well. I think they are quite happy with it. I would like to see it end, but we won’t know for a while. Well, we are making progress.”
“We’ve settled eight wars, and I thought this would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin, but this is probably one of the harder ones. There’s a lot of hate,” he added.
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One as he travels from Japan to South Korea on October 29. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Trump said Europe plays a major role in ensuring security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent further aggression from Russia.
The Trump administration came under scrutiny last week after presenting a 28-point peace plan to US lawmakers. Some lawmakers, including Republicans, initially described it as a “wish list” for Russia.
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President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll sit for closed-door talks with Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak (not pictured) on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, at the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, November 23, 2025. (REUTERS/Emma Farge)
Trump downplayed that plan during his speech Tuesday night, telling reporters it was “just a map.”
“It was all a map. That wasn’t a plan. It was a concept. And from there they take each of the 28 points, and then you get to 22 points. A lot of them have been resolved and actually resolved very favorably. So we’ll see how we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine are on their way to a peace agreement, says President Trump. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool/Reuters; Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters)
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Although talks are moving quickly, Trump said he has no deadline for securing a deal.
“The deadline for me is when it’s over,” he said. “I think everyone is tired of fighting right now. They’re losing, losing too many people.”
