Trump: US holds "very constructive talks" on Ukraine

US President Donald Trump has said that the United States is engaged in "very constructive talks on Ukraine" and stressed that he will "do everything" to stop the Russian-Ukrainian war.

"We are having very good talks (with the Russians and the Ukrainian leadership – ed.), very constructive talks on Ukraine," Trump stated at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Trump noted that Russian strikes have made Ukrainian cities look "as bad as Gaza, and worse".

Trump stressed that he wants to stop the absolute carnage and added that he receives weekly reports on the number of soldiers killed in Ukraine, and "the numbers are staggering".

"When you hear the real numbers in Ukraine, what the numbers are, and this doesn't include the cities that have been demolished and all of the people that were killed. So I want to see it stopped," the US president said, adding that on the Ukrainian side, there are "700,000 soldiers dead" and on the Russian side, "800,000 maybe more".

The publication emphasises that Trump was asked whether he would demand that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin leave the currently occupied territory of Ukraine, but the president did not answer this question.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 45,100 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the war against Russia, and 390,000 more were wounded.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope for a meeting with the US president in the near future. He said that it should precede the determination of the format of conversations with Russia.

On 4 February, Andrii Yermak, Head of the President's Office, spoke with Michael Volz, the newly appointed National Security Adviser to the US president.

This was the first public contact between Ukrainian authorities and the Trump administration since the latter took office.