President Trump on Thursday said he hoped Russia would “do the right thing” as his administration presses for a ceasefire agreement between Moscow and Ukraine.
Trump told reporters he was getting “good signals” about where Russia stood on agreeing to a ceasefire, though he acknowledged nothing was certain. Trump also expressed an openness to speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the potential agreement.
“We’re getting word that things are going OK in Russia, and it doesn’t mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is. But they have very serious discussions going on right now with President Putin and others, and hopefully they all want to end this nightmare,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Trump’s comments came shortly after Putin said he was open to a ceasefire agreement that would pause fighting in Ukraine, but said there were “issues that we need to discuss.”
Trump’s special envoy for Middle East affairs, Steve Witkoff, was in Moscow and was set to meet with Putin later Thursday.
“So, we hopefully are going to be in a good position sometime today to have a good idea,” Trump said. “We know where we are with Ukraine, and we are getting good signals outside of Russia as to where we are with Russia, and hopefully they’ll do the right thing.”
Trump said many of the details of a final agreement have already been discussed, including land agreements and NATO membership for Ukraine.
“Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia is there. If they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world,” Trump said.
