The United States has "made a lot of progress" with both Ukraine and Russia in recent days, U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 6.
Trump has long promised to bring about a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, though progress towards such a deal was disrupted after he ejected President Volodymyr Zelensky from the White House on Feb. 28 and claimed Ukraine was "not ready for peace."
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Trump was once again optimistic about ending the war, saying his team had made progress over the past couple days.
"I will say that we've made a lot of progress with Ukraine and a lot of progress with Russia over the last couple of days and it'd be great to bring (the war) to an end," he said.
Trump said that a quick end to the war would mean "we don't have to talk that way, about nuclear" — a reference to French President Emmanuel Macron's recent statement about potentially extending nuclear protection to France's allies in Europe.
"It'd be great if everybody would get rid of our nuclear weapons," Trump added.
Trump also claimed that during his first term as U.S. president he got "very far along a process with Russia" towards a nuclear disarmament agreeement, despite the difficulties of what he called "the Russia Russia Russia hoax."
The Trump team came under investigation during his first term in office for potentially illegal ties with Russia. The special counsel report found evidence of "extensive criminal activity," though it did not find evidence that Trump was directly working for, or had ever been recruited by, Russian security services.
While Trump did not share details on the type of "progress" made with Russia and Ukraine, his remarks coincide with Zelensky's announcement that U.S and Ukrainian officials would meet for talks next week.
Trump's envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the delegates would discuss a framework for a potential peace agreement in Saudi Arabia.
The resumed cooperation comes after Zelensky issued a conciliatory statement calling the White House confrontation "regrettable" and reaffirming his willingness to work toward peace under Trump's "strong leadership."
Trump read Zelensky's words aloud during his address to Congress on March 4, saying he appreciated the statement and had received "strong signals" that Russia was also ready to make a peace deal. Trump did not directly discuss the decision to freeze military aid to Kyiv in the address.
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