By Mark Swanson    |   Tuesday, 25 March 2025 09:27 PM EDT

President Donald Trump told Newsmax on Tuesday that it’s possible Russia and President Vladimir Putin are “dragging their feet” on a peace deal with Ukraine.

Trump made the assertion in an interview with “Greg Kelly Reports” from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday.

“I don’t know. I mean, I’ll let you know at a certain point. But I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet,” Trump told Newsmax host Greg Kelly. “I’ve done it over the years, you know; I don’t want to sign a contract, I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe I don’t want to do it, quite … I’m not sure. But no, I think Russia would like to see it end, and I think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy would like to see it end at this point.”

Trump told Kelly that both sides lose a total of 2,500 soldiers on average every week.

“They’re not Americans but it doesn’t matter to me, from that standpoint,” Trump said. “I see the pictures of the battlefields; I’d rather not even see them. We have arms and legs and heads all over the field. The weaponry is ridiculous. It’s a big drone deal now. … And I just want to see it stop.”

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Russia rejects Trump’s new ceasefire unless sanctions lifted

Kieran Kelly.  James Crisp Europe Editor

25 March 2025 • 8:09pm

Vladimir Putin refused to implement a new ceasefire deal in the Black Sea unless Donald Trump gets international sanctions on Russia lifted.

Russia demanded access to global food and fertiliser markets, and its reintegration into international banking systems, as its price for a maritime truce with Ukraine.

The White House announced the Black Sea ceasefire on Tuesday after 12 hours of talks between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia on Monday and a long silence from both camps.

The agreement with Russia goes further than a similar agreement with Ukraine, with Washington committing to help seek the lifting of international sanctions on Russian agriculture and fertiliser exports, a persistent Russian demand.

Shortly after the White House announcement, Moscow warned the deal would only come into force after the lifting of sanctions restrictions that have helped isolate the Kremlin since the invasion.

Russia has for weeks been accused of delaying and dragging out peace negotiations by Volodymyr Zelenksy and allies in Europe.

The talks in Saudi Arabia followed a call between Putin and Mr Trump in which the Russian president refused to accept a 30-day ceasefire offered by the US and Ukraine.

Monday’s negotiations were supposed to focus on a Black Sea ceasefire but reportedly included fresh demands from Russia for more territory in Ukraine.

In two separate statements on Tuesday, the Trump administration said that Ukraine and Russia had agreed “to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea”.

Mr Zelensky said the deal would come into effect “immediately”, but the Kremlin said it would be conditional on lifting sanctions.

The Kremlin demanded an end to restrictions on the Russian Agricultural Bank and other “financial institutions involved in international trade of food”, and only after they are reconnected to the SWIFT international payment system.

Russia said that Turkey, which has maintained ties with both sides, could monitor the situation on the Black Sea and that a Middle Eastern nation could look at the energy agreement.

A previous UN-brokered deal allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped safely from Ukraine’s ports, but Russia had complained that it was not beneficial for its trade.

Mr Zelensky said any movement of Russian warships outside the “eastern part of the Black Sea” would be treated as a violation of theUkraine-Russia deal agreed on Tuesday.

“If the Russians violate this, then I have a direct question for president Trump. If they violate, here is the evidence – we ask for sanctions, we ask for weapons,” he said.

He later criticised Russia’s position on sanction-relief.

“We believe that this is a weakening of the position and a weakening of sanctions,” he said.

The new announcements follow an apparent agreement to halt strikes on energy facilities and infrastructure, which Russia appeared to break shortly after.

Moscow on Thursday accused Ukraine of targeting Russian energy infrastructure with three strikes during the talks.

‘Too early to say’

“It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps,” Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.

“No one can accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace after this.”

Under the Black Sea deal sanctions preventing the export of agricultural machinery to Russia would have to be dropped, the Kremlin said.

Restrictions imposed on Russian-flagged ships involved in the food trade, fish and fertilisers would also have to be lifted.

If those conditions were fulfilled, the “Black Sea initiative” would be implemented.

In a sign of persistent divides between US and Russian negotiators, Washington and Moscow failed to agree on a joint statement on the talks.

Nico Lange, of the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank, said: “Russia had already been defeated in the western Black Sea and Ukraine had fought successfully to open up the trade routes from Odesa.

“With today’s agreement, Russia gives almost nothing, but receives relief from some sanctions and new income for its war machine.”

A Kremlin source told the Moscow Times that Russia was dragging out the negotiations to ensure it can take as much Ukrainian territory as possible.

“Time is currently on our side, and we’ll try to make the most of it,” one source told the paper.

The negotiators have “been tasked with nitpicking every comma,” said another.

Zelensky: Russia engaging in manipulation

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “engaging in manipulation” after it set conditions for agreeing to a ceasefire in the Black Sea.

Russia wants vast amounts of sanctions lifted on its banks involved in the agricultural sector and readmission to the international SWIFT banking system before an agreement with Kyiv comes into effect.

“Unfortunately, even now, even today, on the very day of negotiations, we see how the Russians have already begun to manipulate,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“They are already trying to distort agreements and, in fact, deceive both our intermediaries and the entire world.”