'That's what a dealmaker does': Trump justifies Witkoff's plan to 'sell Ukraine to Russia'

His words were quoted by Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and Reuters.

Trump told journalists that he had not reread the transcript of the phone call, but he heard that they were "standard negotiation."

“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s going to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what a dealmaker does. You got to say, look, they want this, you got to convince them of this. I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take," said the U.S. leader.

He also commented on the question of what concessions the Russian Federation agreed to during the negotiations.

"Russia's big concession is they stop fighting, and they don't take any more land," Trump stated.

According to him, part of Ukrainian territory could still be taken by Russia over the next few months.

At the same time, Trump added that he has no deadline for a settlement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

"The deadline for me is when it's over," said the head of the White House, noting that negotiations are also underway with Europe regarding security guarantees for Kyiv.

• U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised a top Putin aide on how to approach Donald Trump with a Ukraine peace plan, suggesting they collaborate on a proposal modeled after the Gaza ceasefire deal.