KYIV — President Donald Trump said Saturday that Ukraine and Russia should go straight to agreeing on a final peace deal, dropping his demand for a ceasefire in a dramatic reversal that aligns him with Russian President Vladimir Putin hours after their summit in Alaska.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the backing of European leaders, has insisted that a ceasefire must be in place before any negotiations to end the war. In the run-up to the summit, European officials had expressed guarded optimism that the United States was aligning with them after Trump had earlier pushed for a ceasefire. Zelensky said Saturday he would be traveling to Washington to discuss the summit with Trump.
