Washington: US President Donald Trump Monday said that Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky want to end their war as Moscow launched a fresh wave of attacks on Kyiv, killing at least 18 people.
“President Putin wants it to end. I will tell you that very strongly. Good call. And President Zelensky actually wants it to end now, and we’re going to be going to NATO, and we’re going to be talking about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The US President was interacting with reporters at the Oval Office after ringing the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to launch Trump Accounts for children.
Trump held separate calls with Putin and Zelensky over the weekend to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year.
While talking about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump repeated his claim that he ended eight wars, including the one between India and Pakistan, which could have witnessed the use of nuclear weapons.
“I ended eight wars, and this (Ukraine) was, in my opinion, going to be an easier one because I know both heads — I didn’t know most of the heads. I did India, I did Pakistan, I did others that could have been a really bad one, nuclear.
“That was going to be nuclear. It could have, as per the Prime Minister of Pakistan, killed 40 million. Forty million people would have been killed, maybe 50 million. They had shot down 11 planes. It was raging. For four days, and I got it stopped,” Trump said, referring to Operation Sindoor last year.
“And I did that, but this (Ukraine) is one that I think we’re getting much closer than people realise,” Trump said.
India has consistently denied all claims about any third-party intervention during the conflict with Pakistan in May 2025. According to New Delhi, the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
India launched Operation Sindoor May 7 last year, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
