‘Stop the bloodshed’: Trump says Russia-Ukraine peace deal ‘very close’ as he arrives in Rome

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that significant progress had been made during talks to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. He stated that most of the key points for a potential deal had already been agreed upon.

“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet at very high levels to ‘finish it off,’” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump posted on his Truth Social site shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral. “They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off,’” Trump wrote. “Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”

His envoy, Steve Witkoff, had made a visit to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Earlier, Trump said in an Times magazine interview said that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of how he’s pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while the country remains under siege.

He also demanded on social media that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “IMMEDIATELY” sign a long-delayed agreement giving the United States access to his nation’s mineral resources.

Despite a rare admonishment of Putin this week, Trump’s focus has largely been on urging Zelenskyy to cut a deal that would involve ceding territory to Ukraine’s invader. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump described Crimea as a place where Russia has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian.”

“Crimea will stay with Russia,” Trump said. “And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”

When asked by reporters, Zelenskyy said he didn’t want to comment on Trump’s statement but repeated, as he has many times during the war, that recognizing occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line for his country.

Speaking to reporters Friday as he left the White House to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, Trump said there is no deadline for the conclusion of peace talks.

“I just want to do it as fast as possible,” Trump said. Negotiators are “pretty close” to a deal, he said.

He promised to meet with foreign leaders while in Rome, and said it was “possible” he could meet with Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said late Friday, however, that he was not sure he would make it to Rome in time for the funeral.

Meanwhile, Russia has continued its bombardment of Ukraine. A drone struck an apartment building in a southeastern Ukraine city, killing three people and injuring 10 others, officials said Friday, a day after Trump rebuked Putin for a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv that killed 12 people and injured 87.

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