Trump says Ukraine willing to negotiate, Russia 'ready for peace'

The US president says he has been in ‘serious discussions with Russia’ and has ‘received strong signals that they are ready for peace’

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he received a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table over the Russia-Ukraine war.

"Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians," Trump said in an address to Congress on Tuesday while quoting from the letter.

Trump also said he had been in "serious discussions with Russia" and had "received strong signals that they are ready for peace".

"Wouldn't that be beautiful?" he said. "It's time to stop this madness. It's time to halt the killing. It's time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars you have to talk to both sides."

Trump was expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in the speech to Congress, but did not reveal any further details on how he plans to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two.

Trump said Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, which Washington says is crucial to secure continued US backing for Ukraine's defence.

Four sources told Reuters that the Trump administration and Ukraine plan to sign the deal in return for military aid, which Trump has paused. But later on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, "There is no signing planned," according to a post on X by a Fox reporter.

Trump gave no further details on the minerals deal, leaving its fate unclear.

Early on Tuesday, Zelensky pledged to repair relations with the US after what he described as a "regrettable" Oval Office clash with Trump last week.

Zelenskiy said he wanted to "make things right" and was ready "any time and in any convenient format" to sign the minerals deal, which he left on the table during a visit to Washington after the Oval Office argument with Trump.

His statement came a day after Trump halted military aid to Ukraine, his latest move to upend US policy and adopt a more conciliatory stance toward Russia.

"My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts," Zelensky said in his statement on X. The statement made no mention of the pause in US military supplies.

Zelensky's statement was clearly aimed at stressing Kyiv's gratitude following the explosive confrontation at the White House, at which Trump and Vice President JD Vance scolded Zelensky as insufficiently appreciative.

"We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence," Zelensky wrote. "Our meeting in Washington ... did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right."

Zelensky outlined a path towards a peace agreement, which he said could begin with a release of prisoners and a halt to air and sea attacks, if Russia did the same.

"Then we want to move very fast through all the next stages and to work with the US to agree on a strong final deal."

GEOPOLITICAL SHIFT

Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine's forces could hold their own on the battlefield against Russian troops, but that Kyiv would do everything possible to continue cooperating with the US.

"We will continue to work with the US through all available channels in a calm manner," Shmyhal said. "We only have one plan - to win and to survive."

In Moscow, the Kremlin said cutting off US military aid to Ukraine was the best possible step towards peace, although it was waiting to confirm Trump's move.

US Democrats have raised an outcry over Trump's abrupt pivot towards Russia, the most dramatic geopolitical shift in generations for Washington, where governments under both parties since the 1940s have prioritised defending Europe from a hostile Moscow.

PRESSURE ON EUROPE

The pause in US military aid puts more pressure on European allies who have publicly embraced Zelensky since the Oval Office blow-up. Britain and France, whose leaders both visited the White House last week, have offered troops to help guard a potential ceasefire.

On Tuesday, Germany's conservatives and Social Democrats announced proposals to set up a 500 billion euro ($531 billion) fund to help ramp up defence spending.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled proposals to mobilise up to 800 billion euros for EU defence spending. The 27-nation bloc holds an emergency summit on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said the president had spoken with both the US and Ukrainian leaders and welcomed Zelensky's will to re-engage with Trump.

But French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was sharply critical of Trump's move to pause military supplies.

"Suspending aid during a war to a country under attack means abandoning the country under attack and accepting or hoping that the aggressor will win," he said during a parliamentary debate.

Ukrainians were stunned and many described Washington's move as a betrayal. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said it looked like Trump was "pushing us towards capitulation".

"Yes, it is betrayal, let's call it like it is," said lawyer Olena Bilova, 47, in Kyiv. "But let's hope that American civil society and the elites of the European Union will not leave us alone."