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President Donald Trump said Saturday he would waste no time meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin again unless a deal on the war in Ukraine was likely.
“I have to know we’re going to make a deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after taking off from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, when asked about the possibility of securing a meeting with Putin. “I’m not going to waste my time. I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing.”
He said he believed the war in Ukraine would have been resolved “well before” the peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
“We have Azerbaijan and Armenia. It’s been very difficult,” Trump added, referring to the peace summit he hosted at the White House between the two countries last summer.
Trump freezes Putin for lack of ‘enough action’ on peace – future talks uncertain
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
He continued: “Actually, Putin told me on the phone, ‘It was unbelievable,’ because everyone tried to make it happen, and they didn’t make it. I did it. You had others. If you look at India and Pakistan, I could say that almost all the deals I’ve ever made, I thought they would have been harder than Russia, than Ukraine, but it didn’t work out that way.”
“There is a lot of hatred between the two, between [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky and Putin, there is enormous hatred.”
President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a joint news conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, August 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file)
Earlier this week, Trump said he canceled a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest to discuss the war because he saw it as a “waste of time.”
Trump announced the Budapest meeting last week, saying it could take place within the next two weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with President Donald Trump before a luncheon in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, October 17. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
He also announced sanctions against Russia this week.
Trump and Putin last met in Alaska in August, but no agreement was reached following the summit.
Trump met with Zelensky last week at White Housewhere he apparently rejected Ukraine’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
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The president also said that when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, he wants a “complete deal” [trade] agreement.”
“I want our farmers to be taken care of, and he wants some things taken care of, too,” Trump said. “We’re going to talk about fentanyl, of course. Fentanyl kills a lot of people, a lot of people. It comes from China, and we’ll talk about it a lot. We’ll talk about a lot of things. I think we have a very good chance of reaching a very comprehensive agreement.”
