Trump: Putin and Zelensky are not ready for negotiations yet, but we will achieve our goal

US President Donald Trump stated that he remains committed to the idea of reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, despite growing uncertainty regarding the prospect of personal negotiations between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

He stated this in an interview with CBS television.

Trump characterized his position as realistically optimistic, saying that he is closely monitoring how both leaders are trying to resolve this issue.

"I've been watching this, I've seen it and talked about it [during bilateral negotiations - ed.] with Putin and Zelensky. Something has to happen, but they're not ready yet. We will achieve our goal," said the US president.

Nevertheless, the White House head emphasized that securing peace between Russia and Ukraine has proven more difficult than he had previously assumed.

"Honestly, I thought Russia [the Russian offensive - ed.] would be the easiest of those that I stopped, but it seems it turned out to be a bit more complicated than the others," he said.