U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that peace talks between Ukraine and Russia “might be going OK,” but warned there comes a time to “put up or shut up,” as frustration grows over stalled progress.
“There’s a point at which you just have to either put up or shut up, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “But I think it’s going fine.”
His remarks came a day after urging Russia to “get moving” on a deal to end the war. On Friday, Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a potential peace agreement.
Despite ongoing U.S.-Russia efforts, talks appear bogged down over disagreements on the terms of a lasting ceasefire. Trump has floated the possibility of secondary sanctions on countries purchasing Russian oil, signaling waning patience with Moscow.
Earlier Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Trump for what he called a more nuanced understanding of the conflict than other Western leaders.
Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey, Lavrov said: “President Trump was the first, and maybe still the only, Western leader to repeatedly say pulling Ukraine into NATO was a huge mistake. That’s a root cause of this war.”
Putin has long argued that Ukraine’s Western orientation, especially its NATO ambitions, poses a security threat to Russia.
Lavrov also addressed a recent agreement between Kyiv and Moscow to halt strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure. He accused Ukraine of violating the deal.
“I gave Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan the same documentation we gave the U.S., the UN, and the OSCE — proof of Ukraine’s daily attacks on Russian energy sites,” Lavrov said.
Ukraine has issued similar accusations against Russia since the moratorium was brokered with U.S. backing.
