'We have to settle it up' — Trump calls for Zelensky-Putin meeting again
U.S. President Donald Trump repeated on Sept. 30 that President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin should meet to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump's latest call for a Zelensky-Putin meeting comes amid his shifting rhetoric on the war in Ukraine. As his efforts to broker peace between Kyiv and Moscow have yielded no results, Trump has grown frustrated with Russia and recently made his most pro-Ukrainian statements so far.
The Kremlin has repeatedly refused calls for a ceasefire while escalating attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Trump told a room of U.S. generals that "we have to settle it up" and "get it done" after months of heavy losses on both sides.
"The only way we can do that is through strength," Trump said. "If we were weak, they wouldn't even take my phone call. … Zelensky's got to get them together and get it done."
Zelensky has said he is ready to meet Putin but the Russian leader has so far refused to meet his Ukrainian counterpart.
In August, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News that no Putin-Zelensky summit was planned, citing Ukraine's refusal to accept Moscow's conditions, including a ban on NATO membership and discussions of territorial concessions.
During his speech, Trump also repeated his claim that Russia and Ukraine are losing "5,000 to 7,000 soldiers a week" and called the fighting "the worst war since World War II."
The American president also claimed he had recently ordered a U.S. nuclear submarine near Russian waters.
"We're 25 years ahead of Russia and China in submarines," Trump said. "We have better. We have newer. But it's something we don't ever want to even have to think about."
In August, Trump said that U.S. nuclear submarines had been repositioned "closer to Russia," after he had a tense exchange with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Trump also told the generals he was "so disappointed" with Putin for prolonging the war, saying he had once warned the Russian leader that fighting for years "doesn't look good" and "you're a paper tiger."
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 24 that Trump's change of opinion about Ukraine's ability to defeat Russia followed briefings from American officials on the current battlefield situation and a possible future Ukrainian offensive.
