Washington, 20 October. US President Donald Trump said Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelensky should seek a settlement or things would turn out badly for them: in his view, the Ukrainian people are unlikely to tolerate continued fighting.
Trump told reporters at the White House that Russia was a giant machine whose troops kept advancing and whose resources were inexhaustible. He also believes a Putin–Zelensky meeting is not necessary for a settlement, and that peace can be reached even without the two presidents signing a document together.
Trump said he had asked Vladimir Putin to release Stephan Hubbard, an American detained in Russia. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that evening that Russia and the US were in dialogue on the release of prisoners through intelligence channels.
Prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Washington are usually prepared by intelligence services without public negotiations, and names are rarely given until the last moment.
What it means: Trump is again putting pressure above all on Kyiv: he calls Russia a force with inexhaustible resources, believes Zelensky should agree to a deal and allows for peace without the two presidents signing together.
Who benefits: Trump leaves the decision on a deal to Zelensky, so the pressure falls mainly on the Ukrainian side; for Stephan Hubbard, the American detained in Russia, the US president's request is a chance of release that the two countries' intelligence services are already discussing.
Background: A day earlier Trump had said it might be time for someone else to negotiate on Ukraine's behalf and that there would be no sanctions on Russia for now.
List of sources used: TASS, RBC, RT, RBC, TASS, TASS, RBC
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
