Donald Trump says Russia, Ukraine closer to peace after Berlin talks

Washington: Expressing cautious optimism that months of fighting could be brought to an end, US President Donald Trump said that negotiations aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war were moving closer to a breakthrough following extensive talks with European leaders and Ukrainian officials in Berlin.

Trump told reporters that he had held "very long and very good talks" with a broad group of European leaders, with the war in Ukraine a central focus of the discussions.

"We had a very good conversation one hour ago with the European leaders, many of them involving the war with Russia and Ukraine," Trump said. "We were - we had a long discussion, and things are seemingly going well."

Trump said he had spoken directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with leaders of Germany, Italy, NATO, Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, describing the talks as coordinated and substantive.

"We had very long and very good talks and, again, I think things are going along pretty well," he said.

The President underscored the human cost of the conflict, citing recent casualty figures. "It shouldn't happen. It shouldn't have happened. Should have never started."

Trump said he had also held multiple conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggested Moscow may now be more inclined toward a settlement. "We've had numerous conversations with President Putin of Russia, and I think we're closer now than we have ever been," he said.

"We want to save a lot of lives," Trump added.

At the same time, Trump cautioned that progress remained fragile. "Russia wants to get it ended, and the problem is they'll want to get it ended and then all of a sudden they won't," he said. "And Ukraine will want to get it ended, and all of a sudden they won't."

Trump said the challenge was to bring both sides "on the same page," adding, "I think that's working along."

He described the scale of destruction as unprecedented in modern Europe. "When you're losing 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers, mostly soldiers, other people too from towns and places like Kyiv and various other places throughout Ukraine, it's pretty bad," Trump said. "Nobody's seen anything like it, actually, since World War Two." (IANS)

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