Trump says Zelensky should step aside from peace talks, expresses willingness to meet Putin and Xi

President Donald Trump said Monday (local time) that someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should take the lead in negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, "Maybe it's time for Zelensky to put forward someone else to negotiate."

The remarks came as Trump was responding to questions about Zelensky's criticism of his decision to suspend anti-Russia sanctions legislation and reach a transit deal allowing Russia to export Russian oil — a move Zelensky said put Trump "on the wrong side of history."

"Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about. Zelensky should have ended this war a long time ago," Trump said. "If he had listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago, and about 1 million Ukrainians would have survived."

He then added, "Frankly, I think it's time for someone else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine." The comment echoed Trump's earlier retort to Zelensky's criticism — that "Ukraine needs a new president" — signaling that he believes Zelensky must step aside for a peace deal to be reached.

"Zelensky, frankly, is not very helpful. I think he doesn't want to stop the war, but I want people to stop dying," Trump said.

Asked whether he had agreed to hold a trilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November to discuss Ukraine, Trump said, "I haven't agreed to it, but I would be willing to do that."

He then added, "Not for Ukraine. Frankly, Russia has been OK with Ukraine. Russia hasn't done much, and neither has China."

On whether he would discuss ending the war at such a meeting without Zelensky present, Trump said, "I will do whatever it takes to end the war, whether someone is there or not."

Trump said, however, that the proposed trilateral meeting would focus on denuclearization. "I'm going to China in November to discuss denuclearization, so they — Xi and Putin — want to meet on my terms," he said. "If we achieve denuclearization, I will have done something great for the world." He added that he would be willing to meet with Xi if the Chinese leader wished to do so.