President Donald Trump is pushing forward with negotiations to end the ongoing war in Ukraine, expressing confidence that a deal with Russia could be reached as soon as this week. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on February 22 that Trump and his team are actively engaged in discussions with both sides to bring the conflict to a close.
“The president and his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict, and the president is very confident we can get it done this week,” Leavitt told reporters upon her return from the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that a Ukraine-Russia peace deal could be finalized as soon as THIS WEEK! pic.twitter.com/VfSyettnPP
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 23, 2025
Trump’s negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been ongoing, though Trump has dismissed the necessity of Zelenskyy’s involvement in key discussions. In an interview with FOX News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade, Trump criticized the Ukrainian leader’s negotiating position.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching [Zelenskyy] negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it,” Trump said. “So, I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He makes it very hard to make deals.”
Trump acknowledged that Russia initiated the war with its 2022 invasion but placed blame on former President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy for failing to de-escalate tensions.
“Every time I say, ‘Oh, it’s not Russia’s fault,’ I always get slammed by the fake news,” Trump said. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelenskyy said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger.”
Leavitt also revealed that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are leading efforts to finalize a deal, including a proposal to leverage Ukraine’s natural resources for economic recovery.
“When it comes to the critical minerals, this is an important piece for the president. It’s very important for the president because it will recoup American tax dollars,” Leavitt said. “And it also will be a great economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine as they rebuild their country following this brutal war.”
The proposed mineral venture could generate $200 million in funds and secure American interests in Ukraine, pending legislative approval, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump previously stated that he had already held “very serious” discussions with Russia about ending the war, insisting that if he had been president earlier, the conflict would not have occurred.
“We will be speaking, and I think we will perhaps do something that’ll be significant,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “We want to end that war. That war would have not started if I was president.”
The Associated Press noted has attempted to cast aspersions on President Trump’s motives for ending the war with misleading coverage of U.S.-Russia relations on his watch.
“Trump in his 2024 campaign vowed to bring a quick end to the war and repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for spending billions in U.S. taxpayer money on military and economic aid for Kyiv to help it fight back against Russia,” the AP reported.
“Trump publicly sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him, and Trump has praised the Russian leader and even called him ‘pretty smart’ for invading Ukraine,” the report added.
However, Russia backed Trump in the 2016 election in line with its strategy to sow chaos in our elections and cause social strife. The strategy worked, as the U.S. media largely pushed the Russia hoax for years, and in many ways, it still continues today — despite the Mueller report’s conclusion that there was not evidence of any Trump-Russia collusion.
“Russia has a standing doctrine that was developed on Putin’s orders,” Rebekah Koffler, former senior intelligence analyst with the US Defense Intelligence Agency and the author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told the New York Post.
“It is called controlled instability and sometimes it is referred to as controlled chaos. The strategy is about destabilizing the United States and the West. [It is] just below the threshold of a direct [land] war.”
America’s media institutions are still taking the bait — hook, line and sinker. Putin backed Joe Biden in the 2024 election and the major U.S. media did not accuse Biden of being a Russian asset, despite the Moscow mayor’s wife wiring millions to Hunter Biden-connected firms.
Remember, Hunter Biden is now “pardoned” thanks to outgoing President Joe Biden.
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