US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington sees a “very strong desire” to end the war waged by Russia in Ukraine, and that both sides are “tired of fighting.”
Trump added in statements to reporters at the White House a day before trilateral talks led by the United States scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi, “We will have very good discussions about the matter in Abu Dhabi.”
Trump pledged to end the conflict when he took office in January 2025, but the goal of ending the war that began with a full-blown Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has remained elusive.
“We are also seeing a very strong desire to end (the war) between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump told reporters. “We are involved in that.” A US official said earlier on Monday that Russia and Ukraine were privately showing a degree of flexibility regarding the possibility of exchanging territories before the Abu Dhabi talks.
The official said, during a briefing to reporters ahead of the talks that begin on Tuesday, that security guarantees for Ukraine will be one of the most prominent topics of the discussions, including the possibility of granting Kiev defense arrangements similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
The issue of territory remains a major point of contention between the two parties. Ukraine wants Russian forces to retreat to the original borders between the two countries, while Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to control the entire Donbass region.
But the official said both sides had shown themselves somewhat willing to compromise in private conversations. He added that any agreement on lands would likely be reached in the final stages of negotiations after agreeing on other files, including post-war security arrangements.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukrainian victories on the battlefield and increasing Russian losses strengthen Kiev's position in the negotiations. These will be the first talks since February aimed at accelerating the end of the war that has been ongoing for more than four and a half years.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to lead mediation efforts in the Abu Dhabi talks scheduled for two days. The official said that it is possible that the two envoys will head to Russia at a later stage after the talks to meet with Putin. Although he stressed that the negotiations would take time, the official said that the American side was cautiously optimistic about the possibility of achieving progress.
Trump has repeatedly pointed out the heavy losses incurred by both sides since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in early 2022. The dispute between Zelensky and Trump has erupted over the past few weeks due to decisions taken by the US President to buy Russian diesel, suspend some sanctions, and call on Kiev to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries. Trump called for Zelensky to be replaced.
The war's front lines, which extend 1,200 kilometers, have remained largely static for months. Russian forces control about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll, completed on Monday, showed that US President Donald Trump's popularity is still near the lowest levels of his political career, influenced by nationwide fears of price increases that caused the defeat of his Republican Party in the midterm elections that took place last week.
According to Reuters, Trump's performance in the White House is supported by about 32 percent of Americans, unchanged from the two previous Reuters/Ipsos polls conducted between late October and early November. This number was one percentage point higher than the 31 percent support rate he recorded in the Reuters/Ipsos poll in mid-October, the lowest percentage in his political career.
Trump's Republican Party suffered a crushing defeat in the midterm elections that took place on November 3, as he lost control of both chambers of the US Congress. With some electoral contests remaining unresolved, Democrats achieved their largest victory in the House of Representatives since at least 2008, and seized seats in the Senate in states known for their conservative tendencies, including Kansas, South Carolina, and Texas.
The poll showed that only 21 percent of Americans praise Trump's management of the cost of living issue. The war he launched against Iran in February led to a sharp rise in fuel prices, which burdened families. Trump's low rating on the issue also hurt his allies in Congress.
The percentage of support for Trump on the immigration policy issue reached 38 percent, which is much higher than the 25 percent that Americans gave for his performance in managing the economy.
