Ukraine deal 'reasonably close': Trump

He will meet with Zelenskiy in Switzerland

FE Team | Published: January 22, 2026 21:54:27

DAVOS, Jan 22 (Reuters/AFP): US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Switzerland, adding that he felt Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin were now at a point where they could reach a deal to end the war.
Trump said he was dealing with Putin, who he said wanted to make a deal to end the nearly four-year-old war, adding that he thought Zelenskiy was also ready to reach an agreement.
Both leaders backed away from an agreement before, but a deal was now "reasonably close," Trump said in a discussion after his prepared remarks to world leaders and business executives in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump twice said he would meet with Zelenskiy later on Wednesday, a fact disputed by a source familiar with Zelenskiy's schedule, but later said the meeting was planned for Thursday.
Ukraine will mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24.
Trump said he had expected to negotiate a deal to end the war sooner, but there was "abnormal hatred" between the two leaders. Last week, Trump told Reuters that Zelenskiy was the main impediment to reaching an agreement.
On Wednesday, he said Washington was getting closer to brokering a ceasefire agreement.
"I think I can say that we're reasonably close," he said. "We have to get it stopped ... I believe they're at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don't, they're stupid."
Trump told reporters that Putin had accepted his invitation to join his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts, but the Russian leader said Moscow was still studying the proposal and would respond in due course.
Putin, quoted by Russian news agencies at a meeting of Russia's Security Council, said he believed the proposed board was mainly designed to deal with a Middle East peace settlement.
He said Russia was prepared to provide $1 billion for the board - as proposed by Trump for long-term membership - from frozen Russian assets. However, that plan was likely to meet resistance from Ukraine, which says it needs those assets to rebuild the country.
Talks to end the war in Ukraine have made "a lot of progress" and are "down to one issue" between Kyiv and Moscow, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday ahead of a trip to Russia.
"I think we've got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it's solvable. So if both sides want to solve this, we're going to get it solved," Witkoff said at a Ukrainian event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
President Donald Trump's envoy, who will travel to Moscow later on Thursday with the US leader's son-in-law Jared Kushner, did not give further details.
Witkoff said the pair would not stay in the Russian capital overnight and would fly straight to Abu Dhabi, where talks would continue in "military to military" working groups.
The Kremlin said this week that President Vladimir Putin would meet with Witkoff during the visit.
Meanwhile, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are due to meet in Davos on Thursday.