WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, not Russian President Vladimir Putin, is blocking a Ukraine peace deal as negotiators seek an end to Russia’s invasion. In an Oval Office interview with Reuters, Trump said Putin is ready to “make a deal” and pointed to Kyiv as the holdup, Jan. 14, 2026.
Trump’s charge against Zelenskiy and the Ukraine peace deal
Pressed on why talks have not produced a breakthrough, Trump replied with a single word: “Zelenskiy,” according to the interview. He offered no further explanation, saying only that the Ukrainian leader was “having a hard time getting there.”
The remarks put Trump at odds with several European allies who have argued Moscow has little interest in ending the war on terms acceptable to Ukraine. Reuters has also reported that U.S. intelligence assessments have continued to warn that Putin has not abandoned broader aims in Ukraine, even as diplomacy has accelerated.
Behind the scenes, U.S.-led negotiations have increasingly revolved around what a postwar settlement would look like and how it could be enforced. Reuters reported that U.S. negotiators have urged Ukraine to relinquish the eastern Donbas region as part of any accord—an idea Zelenskiy has publicly rejected, saying Ukraine’s constitution does not allow giving up land.
Security guarantees in a Ukraine peace deal
For Zelenskiy, any Ukraine peace deal hinges on long-term protection against a repeat invasion. He said last week that the text of a bilateral security-guarantee document with Washington was “essentially ready” for final approval with Trump, and described it as a cornerstone of a broader framework being discussed with allies in Paris.
Zelenskiy has also pushed to extend those guarantees well beyond 15 years and urged Washington to tighten pressure on Moscow. “They need to put pressure on Russia. They have the tools, and they know how to use them,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.
A separate gathering of more than 30 Western countries said this month that “politically and legally binding” guarantees should be integral to any settlement, including support for Ukraine’s armed forces and a multinational force, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Trump said he might meet Zelenskiy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which runs Jan. 19-23, according to the forum’s official schedule.
How past diplomacy shapes today’s Ukraine peace deal debate
Ukraine and Russia have cycled through attempted off-ramps before. Early in 2022, talks in Turkey explored Ukrainian neutrality paired with outside security guarantees, but major gaps remained, Reuters reported at the time. (See this March 2022 explainer.)
Two years later, Switzerland convened a high-level conference meant to build a roadmap toward a broader peace process, even as Russia declined to participate. (See this April 2024 report.)
Now, Trump’s public blame of Zelenskiy hardens the political stakes around an already fraught Ukraine peace deal: whether Ukraine can secure credible guarantees, and whether any agreement that touches territory—or the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant—can survive the scrutiny of Kyiv’s public and its partners.
