Trump assesses Ukraine conflict settlement

US President Donald Trump has said that diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine conflict are gaining ground but warned that the opposing sides view each other with deep resentment.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the US leader stressed the desire to put an end to hostilities, claiming that Ukraine and Russia are “losing 2,500… young men… every single week.”

“I think we're making progress, but there's a lot of ill will between the parties,” he said.

US Vice President JD Vance echoed the remarks during his visit to Greenland, stating, “we’ve obviously got this energy infrastructure ceasefire [between Russia and Ukraine]; we’ve got a Black Sea commercial ceasefire that I think is almost done, and once we get there, we’ll work on the next stage of the ceasefire.”

His comments come as Russia and the US have engaged in active talks aimed at restoring bilateral ties and halting hostilities between Moscow and Kiev. On March 18, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a potential ceasefire and agreed to a 30-day pause in strikes targeting energy infrastructure.

However, Russia has accused Ukraine of violating the deal on numerous occasions. Moscow has signaled that it plans to adhere to the moratorium but warned of a potential symmetrical response to Kiev if it continues to breach the agreement.

Additional negotiations between Russian and US delegations took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week. The meetings focused on restoring the 2022 grain deal, which secured Ukrainian food exports via the Black Sea.

While Moscow has agreed to this in principle, it will only accept a maritime ceasefire if the West lifts its sanctions on Russian Agricultural Bank and other financial institutions involved in the sale of food and fertilizers, which would entail reconnecting them to the SWIFT payment system.

The EU, however, has rejected the demand, maintaining that sanctions will remain in place until Russia withdraws its troops from all territories claimed by Ukraine. In this vein, European Commission Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Anitta Hipper stressed that “the EU’s main focus remains to maximize pressure on Russia, using all tools available.”