Trump urged Zelenskyy to cut a deal with Putin or risk facing destruction, FT reports

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a White House meeting on Friday to accept Russia’s conditions for ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, warning that Vladimir Putin had threatened to “destroy” Ukraine if it refused to comply, according to FT.

During the discussion, Trump reportedly pressed Zelenskyy to concede the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia, repeating arguments made by the Russian leader in a phone call a day earlier, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Ukraine was ultimately able to persuade Trump to back a freeze along the existing front lines, the FT reported. Following the meeting, Trump remarked that both sides should halt fighting at the current battle line, while Zelenskyy described that as a significant development.

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the FT story.

Zelenskyy had arrived in Washington seeking further weapons to sustain Ukraine’s defence, but found an American president seemingly more focused on securing a peace deal.

In his earlier call with Trump, Putin had allegedly proposed allowing Ukraine to retain limited portions of the southern frontline regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for Russia gaining control over most of Donbas, a smaller demand than his initial 2024 proposal for Kyiv to surrender the entirety of Donbas as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, an area covering nearly 20,000 square kilometres.

Zelenskyy’s spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment outside regular working hours on whether Trump had pressed Kyiv to accept peace on Moscow’s terms.

Trump and Putin also agreed on Thursday to hold another summit on the Ukraine conflict within the next two weeks, likely in Budapest, following an August meeting in Alaska that ended without progress.

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