President Donald Trump made bold predictions about the ceasefire deal in Ukraine as he’s expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.
The 78-year-old president sat down for a pre-tapped interview with the weekly news program Full Measure released on Sunday where he was asked about his plans should Putin not agree to a ceasefire.
‘Bad news for this world because so many people are dying,’ Trump responded.
But the president insisted he thinks Putin will agree to the deal.
‘I think he’s going to agree. I really do. I think I know him pretty well, and I think he’s going to agree,’ Trump told anchor Sharyl Attkisson.
Trump would not say during his interview whether he was speaking with Putin recently, but said ‘we are dealing with him.’
Trump said he thinks Russia will agree to the ceasefire deal with Ukraine, but he said it would be ‘bad news for this world’ if Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects it
It comes as Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff held an hours-long meeting with Putin behind closed doors on Thursday as the U.S. pushes the ceasefire deal.
‘It was positive. It was a solution-based discussion,’ Witkoff told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday upon returning to the U.S.
He said he expects there will be a call between Trump and Putin ‘this week.’
Trump said in his taped interview that they’re looking to to get Russia onboard with the ceasefire deal reached with Ukraine and said it’s going ‘ok.’
He suggested they would know a little bit more on Monday.
Attkisson noted in her interview with the president that he claimed he would have the war settled in 24 hours.
‘Well, I was being a little bit sarcastic when I said that,’ Trump responded. ‘What I really mean is I would like to get it settled.’
Trump predicted that he thinks he will be ‘successful.’
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he expects a call this week between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after he met with the Russian leader
Putin said on Thursday he supports a ceasefire but also outlined details that needed to be negotiated before a deal could be made.
Witkoff declined to outline exactly what Russia was demanding on Sunday but said that the two sides are a ‘lot closer’ than they had been.
‘We’ve narrowed the differences between them,’ Witkoff said. He said that he’s been in discussions with Trump over the weekend on how to narrow the differences ‘even further.’
He would not say whether the U.S. would recognize Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia as Russian territory in the future.
Witkoff noted on Sunday that the U.S. also continues to have conversations with the Ukrainians.
He signaled that he believes where will be a deal in the coming weeks after he met with Putin despite it being unclear exactly what Russia is willing to agree to.
‘President Trump wants to see an end to this. I think President Putin wants to see an end to this. I think President Zelensky wants to see an end to this,’ Witkoff said.
He said the details need to be worked out at the table, but he believes all sides are ‘committed to doing that.’
