Trump commented on expectations from Putin, meeting with Zelensky in the Vatican and the mineral agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Vladimir Putin did not intend to end the war in Ukraine, but will now be forced to make concessions. The American leader shared this in an interview, commenting on the prospects for settling the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Putin is a very smart and very cunning person. I have dealt with very bad people. I will say this: I believe he had no intention of ending this war. We talked after I won the election. I think we will make a deal. I can't guarantee it, a deal is a deal and anything can happen, but I think we will do it

According to the American president, if he had not won the election, Putin would have continued the offensive, which would have led to significantly more casualties. 'I respect Ukraine. Ukrainians are excellent fighters, but I have to say that without our equipment, this war, as many say, would have ended very quickly,' he emphasized.

Trump also recalled his previous support for Ukraine: 'You remember that at the beginning of the war I provided Ukraine with Javelins and other stuff that took out tanks. They say Obama gave them blankets, and I gave them Javelins. I really did that, but I want this to come to an end.'

Yes. He will have to. And I think this war will end thanks to our victory in the elections!

The U.S. president also called his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican last weekend a 'moment of comfort'. 'This is not my war, but I want to try to resolve it because probably about 5,000 young soldiers, Russians and Ukrainians, die every week. We are also spending huge amounts of money in Ukraine, and Europe should spend a lot more, not a lot less,' Trump added.

Regarding the mineral agreement with Ukraine, the American president noted that he 'did not want to enter into a complicated agreement'. 'We made an agreement that our money is safe, and we can start mining and doing what we need to do. We agreed to the deal, and I assume they will carry it out. We have not yet seen the fruits of this agreement, but I suspect we will,' he stressed.

According to media reports, Ukraine is ready to sign the main document regarding the mineral agreement and did not propose changes to the draft intergovernmental agreement. A meeting of Ukrainian and American delegations will soon take place to discuss the details.

Earlier, Zelensky revealed the conditions for the start of peace negotiations with Russia.