Trump targets Zelenskyy again, warns over Russia’s territorial gains: ‘Ukraine has to want to settle this’

The differences between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy have clearly began to emerge, with the former once again issuing to warning to the latter on Tuesday (local time) and underlining that it is time for him to “make a deal” with the Russians and bring an end to the conflict that began in February 2022.

Targeting Zelenskyy, Trump warned the Ukraine’s President that failing to seal a deal with the Russians could have severe consequences for Kyiv. He even expressed his frustration with Ukraine for the continued financial support and argued that the United States have received “no return” on its “investment”.

“Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelenskyy has to want to settle this war… And if he doesn’t, I think it’s going to be a very bad thing,” the 80-year-old Republican leader said, while speaking to reporters at the Oval Office in White House. 

“Look, we have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We’ve got nothing back other than high diesel… We have given probably more money to Ukraine than almost anybody over the years, hundreds of billions of dollars. We got nothing back. And the American taxpayers are tired of it,” he said.

Trump underlines Russia’s territorial gains

Trump also underlined that the Russians have made large territorial gains and have a “vast manpower”, wondering how long would the Ukrainians be able to hold their ground. 

“Well, I think what’s happening is that Russia would like to get it done,” Trump said. “I think that—and you know, Russia is a big machine. They just keep grinding forward, and that’s what they’ve done. They’ve taken a very large piece of land.”

“And you know, you can say that Ukraine is doing well or poorly, but the land gets bigger and bigger all the time… Week by week, it just—they march forward. They just keep marching forward. They have an unlimited supply of people, this too,” he added.

The growing differences between Trump, Zelenskyy

Trump and Zelenskyy have not been on the same page recently after the US sealed the oil deal with Russia earlier this month. Zelenskyy has described it as an investment in war and said efforts need to be put in ensuring that the conflict ends at the earliest.

However, Trump has accused Zelenskyy of not doing enough to end the conflict. He has also called for a new Ukraine president, which has only irked Zelenskyy’s administration. 

As differences keep rising between US and Ukraine, Russia’s Vladimir Putin has reportedly purposed a trilateral meeting with Trump and China’s Xi Jinping next month to ensure that the conflict ends in Moscow’s favour. However, there is no official confirmation yet, even as Russian officials remain hopeful of the trilateral meeting.

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