September 15, 2025 | Morristown, NJ — U.S. President Donald Trump has described the personal animosity between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “unfathomable,” saying it makes direct negotiations between the two leaders nearly impossible.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey on Sept. 14, Trump said he initially believed facilitating talks would be straightforward. “I think I’m going to have to do all the talking… they hate each other so much, they almost can’t talk,” he said.
The remarks come a month after Trump’s summit with Putin in Alaska, during which he pledged to work toward arranging a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. Those efforts stalled quickly, with Kyiv rejecting Putin’s offer to host talks in Moscow and reaffirming that negotiations on occupied territories remain off the table.
Amid diplomatic gridlock, Trump has pushed for stronger coordinated pressure on Russia, linking potential new U.S. sanctions to stricter European energy policies. “I’m willing to do sanctions,” Trump said, “but they’re going to have to toughen up their sanctions,” criticizing Europe for continuing to import Russian oil and gas.
While calls in Congress to escalate sanctions are growing, the Trump administration has so far taken a restrained approach, focusing instead on multilateral pressure.
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