Trump sees willingness to end Russia-Ukraine war ahead of peace talks

President Donald Trump said Washington sees growing willingness to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Kyiv and Moscow prepare for U.S.-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi later Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said recent battlefield gains were strengthening Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of the talks.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said both sides were battle-weary, more than four and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“We’re also seeing a very strong inclination to end Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said, adding that, “We’re involved in that because I want to see people stop getting killed again.”

His comments followed a U.S. official’s assessment that Moscow and Kyiv were privately showing some flexibility over a possible exchange of territory, according to Reuters.

A senior Ukrainian official, however, rejected suggestions that Kyiv was considering territorial concessions, telling Reuters that any discussion of territory would have to take place between national leaders and be accompanied by appropriate security guarantees.

Russia has publicly maintained its demand that Ukraine surrender the entire eastern Donbas region, including territory Moscow has not captured.

Separately, Zelenskyy said Monday that recent Ukrainian battlefield gains and mounting Russian losses had improved Kyiv’s bargaining power.

“Right now, Ukrainian troops are truly strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating positions,” he said in his nightly address, urging Washington to convince Russia to end the war.

The remarks come as U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials prepare for two days of talks in Abu Dhabi — their first trilateral negotiations since February.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to lead Washington’s mediation efforts, with postwar security guarantees for Ukraine expected to feature prominently.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that discussions had advanced on a possible postwar security framework for Ukraine and Europe.

“Nothing’s been finalized yet, and maybe some progress can be made in Abu Dhabi,” Rubio said.

The renewed diplomacy comes amid continued fighting and mounting questions over the scale of Russia’s wartime losses.

Belarusian Cyber Partisans, an opposition-linked hacker group, said its analysis of data it claims was obtained from Russia’s state statistics agency identified 393,881 deaths linked to military operations or their consequences between 2022 and August 2026.

The group said its count…