Trump Says Ukraine Should Give Up Territory in Donbas to End War

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 19 that Ukraine should give up territory in the Donbas region already under Russian control in order to end the war.

“We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are, the battle lines,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“They should stop right now at the battle lines. Go home. Stop killing people and be done.”

When asked what should happen to the eastern Donbas region, Trump said: “Let it be cut the way it is. It’s cut up right now. I think 78 percent of the land is already taken by Russia.

“You leave it the way it is, right now. They can negotiate something later on down the line.”

The president, however, said that he never discussed ceding the whole Donbas territory to Moscow during his recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On Oct. 17, Trump hosted Zelenskyy at the White House, during which the president expressed hope that he would be able to resolve the Russia–Ukraine war without sending Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.

The visit followed what Trump called his “very productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 16.

“I think he wants to end the war,” Trump said of Putin as he met with Zelenskyy in the Cabinet room at the White House. “I spoke to him yesterday for two-and-a-half hours.”

Tomahawks and Patriots

After the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that the meeting with Zelenskyy was “very interesting and cordial,” but that he had suggested it was time to end the war and make a deal.

“They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent,” Trump wrote.

Trump did not commit to sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, which would allow Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Despite not securing the long-range missiles, Zelenskyy said the meeting with Trump was “positive.”

In comments to reporters, he said, “In my opinion, [Trump] does not want an escalation with the Russians until he meets with them.”

Ukraine is also hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems from U.S. companies using frozen Russian assets, but the Ukrainian president said procurement would require time because of long production queues. He added that he spoke to Trump about how to get these systems quicker—potentially from European partners.

“We share President Trump’s positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war. After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team, his message, in my view, is positive—that we stand where we stand on the line of contact, provided all sides understand what is meant,” Zelenskyy said.

Proposed Meeting With Putin

The day before his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump spoke by phone with Putin and agreed to meet with him in Budapest, Hungary, in hopes of finding a way to end the war.

Trump later told reporters that the meeting with Putin could take place within “two weeks.” The two leaders met in Alaska in August, but that summit failed to produce a breakthrough.

Zelenskyy, on Oct. 19, expressed skepticism over Budapest being the best location for the next Trump–Putin meeting.

“I do not consider Budapest to be the best venue for such a meeting. Obviously, if it can bring peace, it will not matter which country hosts the meeting,” he said.

Hungary has maintained closer ties with Russia than most other European countries throughout the conflict.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Oct. 20 that it was “not nice” to have the Russian president travel to an EU nation for talks on ending the war.

Kallas told reporters ahead of a gathering of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg, “Regarding Budapest, no, it’s not nice … to see that really a person put to the arrest warrant by the [International Criminal Court] is coming to a European country.”

The Kremlin said on Oct. 20 that Budapest was chosen because Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained positive relationships with the United States and Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Orban has quite warm relations with President Trump and very constructive relations with President Putin.”

“And this, of course, greatly contributed to the understanding that was worked out during the last phone call,” he added, referring to Trump’s conversation with Putin.

Emel Akan, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.