Trump Says Ukraine And Russia Could Agree Peace Deal 'This Week'
Donald Trump has claimed Russia and Ukraine could agree a peace deal 'this week' – despite Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Vladimir Putin of breaching his own Easter truce thousands of times.
The US president said both sides in the conflict could 'make a fortune' if they agree to end the war and 'do big business' with America.
He posted his optimistic message on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night.
It comes just days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said America could 'move on' from the talks to end the war if no progress is made soon.
Trump said: 'HOPEFULLY RUSSIA AMD UKRAINE WILL MAKE A DEAL THIS WEEK. BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!'
A peace deal within the next few days would be a big surprise, however.
Ukrainian president Zelenskyy made clear his distrust of his Russian counterpart in a post on X at the end of the supposed Easter ceasefire declared by Putin at the weekend.
He said: 'The total number of violations by the Russian army of Russia's own ceasefire promise throughout the day reached 2,935.'
Overall, he said, there were a total of 96 Russian assaults during the so-called 'truce', 1,882 instances of shelling on Ukrainian positions and more than 950 drone attacks.
Zelenskyy said: 'This day was not enough for Moscow to respond either to the proposal for a full 30-day ceasefire after Easter, or to the proposal to at least extend the ceasefire in the sky, refraining from missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure.
'The nature of Ukraine's actions will remain symmetrical: ceasefire will be met with ceasefire, and Russian strikes will be met with our own in defence. Actions always speak louder than words.'
A report by Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi as of 12:00 a.m., following the end of Easter.The total number of violations by the Russian army of Russia's own ceasefire promise throughout the day reached 2,935. The highest number of shellings and assaults occurred in the Pokrovsk…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 20, 2025
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