After a tense few months, US President Donald Trump painted a new picture of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, saying the once-combative president now seemed “calmer” and more willing to strike a peace deal with Russia.
Speaking to reporters just before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Trump reflected on their latest meeting in the Vatican, noting the sharp contrast to their explosive February encounter at the White House, where Zelensky’s delegation had been unceremoniously shown the door.
“This time, I saw him calmer. I think he gets the bigger picture now — and I believe he actually wants to make a deal,” Trump said, adding, “I’m not so sure he wanted that before.”
Trump doubled down on his earlier comments to Time magazine, insisting that any future peace agreement would see Crimea remain with Russia — a point he claimed even Zelensky privately understands, no matter what public statements suggest. When pressed if he thought Zelensky was now ready to concede the peninsula, Trump didn’t hesitate: “Oh, I think so, yeah.”
While Zelensky has continued to publicly reject any notion of surrendering Crimea, Trump has criticized that hardline stance as a major stumbling block to peace. Still, despite the apparent softening, Trump said Zelensky didn’t leave old habits behind — once again requesting more military aid from Washington.
“He told me — again — that he needs more weapons,” Trump said with a chuckle. “Honestly, he’s been asking for that for three years.” Trump highlighted the $350 billion in weapons and cash already funneled to Kiev but admitted Ukraine faced a “very tough situation” fighting a “much bigger force.”
The meeting comes as Russia resumed heavy long-range strikes against Ukrainian military and industrial sites following a brief Easter ceasefire, with Moscow reiterating that it targets only legitimate military infrastructure — firmly denying Western accusations of civilian targeting.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has kept the door open for negotiations. During talks on Friday between President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, Moscow once again emphasized it’s ready to sit down with Kiev — no preconditions attached.
Still, Russian officials have stressed that any lasting settlement must acknowledge the current territorial reality and address the deeper causes of the conflict. Leaks from Washington suggest the US is eyeing a plan to freeze the conflict along existing front lines and officially recognize Crimea as Russian — though Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear: Moscow isn’t airing out private negotiations until the ink is dry.
For now, while the guns haven’t fallen silent, a flicker of diplomacy seems to have returned — and perhaps, so has a more pragmatic Zelensky.
