Politics · United States · 3 hrs ago
Trump says Zelensky is harder to negotiate with than Putin
Donald Trump said Zelensky is harder to negotiate with than Putin in an interview with Newsmax.
Trump said he was not a fan of Ukraine’s president and accused him of not wanting a settlement, despite saying he does.
He also criticized Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries, saying they could push up global fuel prices.
Ukraine says it resumed refinery strikes after Russia did not observe an energy-sector truce announced by Trump; Russian officials say Ukraine never stopped its attacks.
Trump also called for elections in Ukraine, which have not been held under martial law, and questioned whether Zelensky still has public support.
Trump said he believes the war could end soon, but cited the hostility between Putin and Zelensky as an obstacle to an agreement.
The interview gave no new details about negotiations or a timeline for ending the war.
Donald Trump said he finds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky harder to negotiate with than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he was not a fan of Zelensky and accused him of not wanting a settlement.
Trump also criticized Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries, saying they were driving up global fuel prices.
He said he believes the war will end soon, but that hostility between Putin and Zelensky makes an agreement difficult.
Trump again called for elections in Ukraine, which have not been held under martial law.
- Who
- U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- What
- Trump said Zelensky is harder to negotiate with than Putin.
- When
- The remarks were reported on October 16, 2026.
- Where
- In an interview with Newsmax. The interview location is not stated.
- Why
- Trump said hostility between Putin and Zelensky makes it difficult to reach a settlement.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Trump and Putin agreed on a deal involving Russian diesel fuel supplies to U.S. and global markets.
Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a truce in the energy sector.
Zelensky said Ukraine had not struck Russian oil refineries for three days but would resume strikes because Russia had not observed the truce.
Trump’s remarks about negotiating with Zelensky were reported.
- Interview outlet
- Newsmax
- U.S. president
- Donald Trump
- Ukrainian president
- Volodymyr Zelensky
- Russian president
- Vladimir Putin
- Reported date
- October 16, 2026
4 sources
What people are saying
I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin
Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with. He doesn’t want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t. No, I’m not a big fan of Zelensky.
I think you need an election because there’s nobody that’s telling me that the people of Ukraine are satisfied having missiles hitting their apartment building
Putin hates Zelensky, and Zelensky hates Putin. And when you have that kind of hatred, it’s very hard to get something settled