Trump: “at some point you just have to put up or shut up” when commenting Ukraine-Russia peace talks

Reuters reports that US President Donald Trump expressed both cautious optimism and growing impatience regarding negotiations to end the Russo-Ukrainian war. 

His comments came a day after he showed frustration with Russia and told it to “get moving” on reaching a peace deal as the negotiations between the US, Ukraine, and Russia over conditions for a full ceasefire are ongoing. 

On 11 April, US President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for over four hours.

Witkoff suggested that supporting Russia’s claim to four eastern Ukrainian oblasts would be the quickest way to secure a ceasefire. Witkoff’s stance, which echoes Russian propaganda, sparked controversy and concerns among US Republicans while European allies gathered to pledge continued support for Ukraine. 

“I think Ukraine-Russia might be going OK, and you’re going to be finding out pretty soon,” Trump told reporters while aboard Air Force One, according to Reuters. 

He added:

“There’s a point at which you just have to either put up or shut up and we’ll see what happens, but I think it’s going fine.”

Trump has reportedly considered imposing secondary sanctions ranging from 25% to 50% on countries purchasing Russian oil if he believes Moscow is delaying peace talks progress.

Additionally, Trump mentioned the possibility of imposing further sanctions on Russia’s banking and energy sectors if a ceasefire is not reached by the end of April 2025.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Trump’s perspective on the war at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye.

 “President Trump was the first and so far, I think, almost the only one among the Western leaders who repeatedly, with conviction, several times stated that it was a huge mistake to pull Ukraine into NATO. And this is one of the root causes which we quoted so many times,” Lavrov said.

Putin has consistently framed Ukraine’s Western orientation and NATO aspirations as “threats” to Russia since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Regarding a recent agreement between Ukraine and Russia to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, Lavrov claimed Moscow upheld its commitments while accusing Kyiv of continuing attacks.

Ukraine has made similar accusations against Russia since the US-backed moratorium was implemented.

On 13 April, a Russian missile attack on Sumy killed 32 civilians and wounded 83. The attack, which utilized cluster munitions, struck civilian infrastructure in the city center on Palm Sunday.