After previously pushing for a ceasefire and threatening severe consequences for Russia if President Vladimir Putin did not stop the war, President Trump on Monday appeared to back off that demand.
“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” he said when asked about whether his previous call for a ceasefire had changed. “I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically, like, well, you know, one country or the other wouldn’t want it.”
He continued that he likes “the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, because you’d stop killing people immediately.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump participate in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, August 18, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
“But we can work a deal where we’re working on a peace deal while they’re fighting,” he said.
