Trump says Ukraine war could be settled soon after Putin call

Donald Trump said at the NATO summit in Ankara that he believed the war in Ukraine could be settled soon after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. He made the comments while meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, giving his optimism a prominent diplomatic stage at a summit centered on alliance unity, burden-sharing and continued support for Ukraine.

Trump described his conversation with Putin as a very good talk and said the call lasted a long time. He said he spoke with Zelenskiy immediately afterward and expressed confidence that both leaders wanted a deal. The exchange put Trump’s rhetoric about a possible settlement directly against the reality of a war that has shown no sign of easing on the ground.

Zelenskiy was expected to meet Trump at the summit on Wednesday, and his agenda pointed in a different direction from any near-term peace declaration. He said he planned to press Ukraine’s urgent need for air defense systems to protect against Russia’s ballistic strikes, underscoring that Kyiv’s military requirements remained immediate even as political negotiations surfaced in Ankara.

The gap between diplomacy and battlefield conditions was stark. Russian strikes had killed 50 people in Ukraine’s capital in July alone, a toll that made Trump’s optimism difficult to square with the pace of the fighting. Any suggestion of a breakthrough now depends not only on talk between leaders but on whether Moscow changes course, whether Kyiv sees credible security guarantees and whether Washington and European allies are prepared to back any settlement with more than summit-stage language.

Trump’s comments also landed as NATO allies weighed how much they should spend on their own defense and how much support should continue for Ukraine. Because of Trump’s influence on U.S. policy and alliance politics, his public confidence can shape expectations in Kyiv, Moscow and European capitals about whether the next phase of the war will move toward talks or remain defined by missile attacks, air defenses and continued pressure on the battlefield.