US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, Oct. 20 that Ukraine “has to want to make a deal” to end Russia’s war, although Kyiv has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and urged Washington to arrange a trilateral meeting with Russia.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House, Trump claimed that the US and Europe had both spent “a fortune” on Ukraine, and that Europe was now tired of the war.
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“We have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We’ve got nothing back other than high diesel,” Trump said, in what appeared to be a defense of his recent moves to ease pressure on Moscow.
His remarks came hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky met senior US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo, Norway, where the two sides discussed several types of security guarantees set out in a draft document.
Witkoff is set to present the proposals to the Russian side in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Trump claims ‘mostly soldiers die’
Asked about Russian strikes on civilians, Trump said that “Some people die in a town that got hit or whatever, but mostly soldiers die.”
Only a day prior, a Russian drone struck a crowded park in Nova Vodolaha, Kharkiv region, where residents regularly gather with their children. The attack killed six civilians, with the youngest victim being an infant in her stroller, just over a year old.
The move prompted prosecutors to open a war crimes investigation into the attack, as deliberately targeting civilians constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.
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On Tuesday, Russian forces struck the operating room in Kyiv’s Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology, injuring one patient. The strike marked the second time Russia targeted the heart center that services patients.
Kyiv has backed every ceasefire proposal
Senior Ukrainian authorities have consistently rejected the claim that Kyiv is the obstacle to peace.
On Monday, Zelensky responded to Trump’s previous accusation that he did not want to end the war by reiterating that Kyiv had supported every partner initiative, as well as every ceasefire proposal aimed to end Russia’s war.
In June, Zelensky publicly addressed Putin in a rare open letter, proposing a face-to-face meeting hosted by a neutral state and saying he was ready for a “full ceasefire.”
However, Russian authorities have so far rejected every such proposal, in some cases even mocking them.
International partners have made the same point. During the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), held in New York late September, 51 countries have signed a joint statement urging Russia to accept an immediate ceasefire. The statement noted that Ukraine had already agreed to a full and unconditional truce in March 2025.
At the same summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov – who represented Putin – said that the Kremlin will not pause its “special military operation” even during possible negotiations.
Ukraine would have kept its 1991 borders if the European nations had not “engaged in their shenanigans,” he continued, echoing Moscow’s long-standing hostility toward the West, only a month after Ukraine marked its 35th Independence Day.
In an official statement issued after the talks in Oslo, Zelensky said Ukraine had immediately backed the last US proposal for an energy ceasefire. Russia, however, kept up its strikes.
According to Zelensky, Kyiv then offered to stop hitting sensitive targets in Russia’s energy sector if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s.
“Putin said ‘no.’ But we are working to find a solution,” Zelensky said, noting that Ukraine is working with its European partners on a set of peace proposals that Kyiv wants the US to convey to Moscow.
Intelligence restored as Witkoff heads to Russia
The latest meeting in Oslo may indicate that relations between Kyiv and Washington are beginning to stabilize.
Zelensky confirmed that intelligence sharing, including early warnings of Russian attack, is working again. “We are thankful that intelligence works now,” he said. “I think we will have good results.”
Following talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Zelensky also said that Ukraine could see results within the next 48 hours on Patriot interceptors and Starlink restrictions.
The trip will be the US envoys’ first visit to Russia since Sept. 5, when they held three hours of talks with Putin and senior Russian officials in Moscow before heading to Kyiv for the first time during their tenure.
Moscow has already signaled limits. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would listen to US proposals but ruled out any political concessions, according to Russian state-owned media TASS.
How the rift with Washington unfolded
Over the past week, diplomatic ties between Kyiv and Washington have deteriorated sharply.
The rift initially started when Trump abruptly announced that he struck a diesel deal with Putin on Oct. 9, on the same day the Ukrainian delegation was in Miami for peace talks with his administration.
Zelensky later said Ukraine’s military had been warned by US counterparts that Washington would restrict intelligence sharing should Kyiv keep striking Russian oil facilities.
Trump’s administration reportedly also warned it could suspend the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) – a mechanism that enables European purchases of US weapons for Ukraine, the main channel for buying Patriot interceptors.
On Oct. 10, Trump claimed Ukraine needed a new president capable of reaching a deal. Zelensky rejected the idea by saying his removal would be “a decision for our people, not Trump, not Musk, not anyone else.”
However, under martial law, Ukrainian legislation prohibits presidential elections.
Although Kyiv called for a 60-day ceasefire to hold elections following Trump’s call for one in Ukraine, the Kremlin refused, offering only a one-day ceasefire on the proposed election day.
Trump then announced an immediate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on Oct. 11, claiming both parties had agreed because he told them to.
While Ukraine signalled willingness to abide by the truce and refrained from striking Russia’s facilities, Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine nationwide. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 14 that Trump’s energy truce was never defined, so Russia cannot be accused of breaking it.
Around the same time, Ukraine began experiencing restrictions on Starlink terminals without prior warning and a week-long pause in US intelligence sharing, which left Kyiv without allied warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied responsibility, saying limits on the military-grade Starshield system are decided by the US military and ultimately Trump himself.
Trump denied responsibility altogether.