Trump, eager to reach Ukraine ceasefire ‘fast’, says talks in Russia ‘going OK’

US leader hopeful of ‘good position’ as his special envoy visits Moscow for ‘serious’ discussions with Kremlin, including Vladimir Putin

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US President Donald Trump gestures during his meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House in Washington on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:00pm, 13 Mar 2025Updated: 3:26am, 14 Mar 2025

Donald Trump on Thursday said “things were going OK” in Russia as his special envoy was to meet Kremlin officials in Moscow about a proposed 30-day ceasefire, with the US president eager to achieve a deal in Ukraine “fast”.

Sitting next to Nato’s visiting secretary general, Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office, Trump alluded to “serious” discussions under way “right now” with Russian President Vladimir Putin “and others”.

“We hopefully are going to be in a good position sometime today to have a good idea,” the US president said of the possibility of a ceasefire in the three-year Ukraine war, adding that he was getting “good signals outside of Russia”.

Commenting on Putin saying earlier in the day that he was open to the idea of a truce with Ukraine but had “serious questions”, Trump described his Russian counterpart’s remarks as “very promising” but incomplete.

Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin, and the US president signalled he would meet his Russian counterpart after a peace agreement was reached.

“He put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete,” Trump said of Putin’s remarks on the ceasefire discussion. “I’d love to meet with him or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast.”