U.S. President Donald Trump has said efforts to end the war in Ukraine are "somewhat under control" just hours before a massive Russian drone strike on Kyiv killed three people including a five-year-old girl and her father.
Speaking to the sports media outlet OutKick on March 22, Trump said he has had "very rational discussions" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I don't think there's anybody in the world that's going to stop (Putin) except me, and I think I'm going to be able to stop him," Trump told Travis during the interview on board Air Force One.
"We've had some very rational discussions, and I just want to see the people stop getting killed."
Just a few hours after the interview, Kyiv was hit by multiple Russian kamikaze drones, killing three people and injuring 10 others.
Trump has been promising a ceasefire in Ukraine since he took office in January but talks with Russia have so far yielded weak results.
On March 18, Moscow announced it had agreed to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire on Ukrainian energy infrastructure following a call between Putin and Trump.
While the White House celebrated the partial ceasefire, dozens of civilians in Ukraine have been killed by Russian attacks since its implementation.
Trump told OutKick founder Clay Travis that he has a good relationship with both Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite a fiery exchange in the Oval Office last month that led to Zelensky walking out of the White House early without signing a deal for Ukraine's minerals.
U.S. negotiators are set to separately meet Ukrainian and Russian delegates in Riyadh on March 24 to discuss the ceasefire proposal.
Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that they are skeptical that the talks will lead to any substantial results. Until now, the Trump team has only held bilateral talks with each side separately, including meetings with Russia in Riyadh on Feb. 18 and Istanbul on Feb. 27, and with Ukraine in Jeddah on March 11.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
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