Donald Trump has urged Vladimir Putin to reach an immediate settlement to end the war in Ukraine, saying it was the Russian president’s “time to act”.
The US president-elect wrote on social media on Sunday that [Volodymyr] “Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness”.
He called for “an immediate ceasefire” and said, “negotiations should begin”.
Referring to his closeness to Mr Putin, he added: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The world is waiting!”
Appearing on Meet The Press, on NBC News, Sky News’ US partner, he was asked if he was actively working to end the near three-year-old conflict, and replied, “I am.”
Mr Trump restated that he was open to reducing US military aid to Ukraine. Asked if the country should prepare for possible cuts in US aid, he said: “Possibly.”
Similarly, he again warned the US could quit NATO if other member states failed to increase their contributions but said: “If they’re paying their bills, and if I think they’re treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I’d stay with NATO.”
Asked if he would consider pulling the US out of the alliance if that wasn’t the case, he responded: “Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.”
He wouldn’t confirm if he had spoken to Russia’s leader since winning the election in November because he said he didn’t want “to do anything that could impede the negotiation”.
The former president’s call for an immediate ceasefire goes further than anything incumbent president Joe Biden has said.
It’s his clearest effort so far to resolve one of the world’s major crises before taking office on 20 January and contrasts with the Biden administration, which has made a point of not being seen to press Kyiv for an immediate truce.
Mr Trump’s latest intervention comes the day after he held talks with both the Ukraine president and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
The trio joined other world leaders in the city for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral after the devastating fire of 2019.
Mr Zelenskyy described his weekend discussions with Mr Trump as “constructive” but on Sunday he warned in a post on the Telegram messaging app that Ukraine needs a “just and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few years”.
A workable peace with Russia must be underpinned by “effective peace guarantees”, he said, adding that Ukrainians “want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Moscow’s oft-stated position that it is open to talks with Ukraine.
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Washington has been increasing support to Ukraine and on Saturday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin announced nearly $1bn (£784m) more in weapons.
In a separate social media update on Sunday, Mr Zelenskyy claimed Kyiv has so far lost 43,000 soldiers since the invasion began in February 2022, while a further 370,000 have been injured.
Western officials have said the past few months of grinding positional warfare in eastern Ukraine have meant record losses for both sides, with tens of thousands killed and injured each month.