Ukraine deal: Trump says he believes Putin will ‘fulfil his part’; Kremlin says Putin still open to talk

U.S. President Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Donald Trump on Monday (March 31, 2025) said he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin “to fulfil his part” of a deal to end the Ukraine war, after the U.S. President voiced doubts over Moscow’s commitment.

“I want to make sure that he follows through,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the White House. “I think he’s going to live up to what he told me, and I think he’s going to fulfil his part of the deal now.”

Mr. Trump on Sunday (March 30, 2025) criticised both Mr. Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as he pushes to end more than three years of conflict in Ukraine.

Mr. Trump told NBC he was “very angry” at Mr. Putin for questioning Mr. Zelenskyy’s credibility as someone to negotiate with and for calling for new leadership in Ukraine.

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Mr. Putin earlier this month rejected a U.S. proposal of an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine — that Mr. Zelenskyy backed — and has upped his rhetoric on Moscow wanting to install new leadership in Ukraine.

On Sunday (March 30, 2025), NBC News journalist Kristen Walker said Mr. Trump had called her to say he was “pissed off” with Mr. Putin and threatened tariffs on firms dealing with Russian oil.

The U.S. leader later turned his ire on Mr. Zelenskyy, warning him Ukraine would have “big problems” if it got cold feet over a deal to sign over mineral rights to the United States.

The Kremlin on Monday (March 31, 2025) said that Mr. Putin was still open to speaking to Mr. Trump.

There was no phone call scheduled between the two leaders, but that one could be “organised promptly,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“We are… working on implementing some ideas, linked to resolving the Ukrainian (conflict),” Mr. Peskov said. “This process is time-consuming.”