Washington DC: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) said that Washington was continuing to share intelligence with Ukraine and was working with both Kyiv and Moscow to end the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that both sides wanted the conflict to end but did not know how to reach that point.
Addressing reporters before departing for a campaign in Alaska, Trump denied that the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
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"No, we haven't. We help them. But we're really hoping to get to a final answer. We want the war ended, Peter. We are helping them, and we are sharing Intel. We want the war to end. So, we're working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end," Trump said.
When asked what gave him confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to end the war more than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said his experience in negotiations informed his assessment.
"Only in dealing, that's what I've done my whole life is deals. I think Putin wants it probably... They both want it to end, and they don't know how to get to that point. There's a lot of hatred there between the two of them. We're going to get them there," he said.
On concerns raised by some Republican senators over the diesel deal involving Russia, Trump said the arrangement was intended to supply the global market rather than the United States, arguing that the move would help address high energy prices.
"Nobody told me anything. That's a diesel deal, not for us. That's being released into the world. That's not being released to us. That's a diesel deal that's going to be released into the world for the world market. Because the world market suffers from high prices. And when you knock out diesel refineries, that's not a great thing," Trump said.
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When a reporter cited Russia's strikes on energy sites in Ukraine on Monday, Trump responded by pointing to Ukrainian strikes on the preceding day. "Well, Ukraine hit many sites the day before," he said.
Asked whether Russia had violated the energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, Trump declined to give an immediate assessment.
"I'll let you know about that later," he said. "But they're hitting each other. But it'll all come to an end," Trump added.
Trump had earlier said Russia would supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel, followed by another 500,000 tonnes during November and one million tonnes immediately thereafter, with a further three million tonnes expected within a short period depending on the condition of Russian diesel refineries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had also said that proposed Russian oil and petroleum product supplies to the United States and global markets would positively affect the global economy. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the issue was discussed during a telephone conversation between Putin and Trump on Friday, which also covered Ukraine and Iran.
His remarks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday accused Russia of ignoring the call by US President Donald Trump's call for an energy ceasefire, after Moscow launched heavy strikes across Ukraine despite Kyiv honouring a pause on targeting Russian energy assets.
"Ukraine has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the two days since the American President announced an energy ceasefire. But Russia did not heed the American President," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
According to the Ukrainian President, Russian forces launched over a hundred weapons, including jet-powered drones, loitering munitions, and ballistic missiles, from last evening through today. While Ukrainian forces intercepted a significant portion of these strike assets, several hit civilian and critical infrastructure across 19 Ukrainian regions in just two days.
Trump had claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to reach a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war more than Zelenskyy, while reiterating that both leaders must come together to end the conflict amid questions over alleged violations of the proposed energy ceasefire.