'Putin said he'll destroy you': Trump asks Zelenskyy to accept war terms

In a tense White House meeting, Donald Trump reportedly asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Russia's terms to end the war, warning of severe consequences if he refused

US President Donald Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s terms to end the war. According to the Financial Times, the tense meeting turned into a “shouting match” multiple times, with Trump “cursing all the time” and warning that Russia would “destroy” Ukraine if it refused to compromise.

 

According to the report, officials familiar with the discussion said Trump repeatedly echoed Putin’s points, pressing Zelenskyy to surrender the Donbas region to Moscow. Although Trump later endorsed a temporary freeze of the front lines, his tone throughout the meeting was confrontational, the news report said.

 

 

Citing a European official, the Financial Times reported that Trump told Zelenskyy that Putin had described the conflict as a “special operation, not even a war". Trump also told his Ukrainian counterpart that he was “losing the war” and added, “If Putin wants it, he will destroy you".

 

At one point in the meeting, Trump allegedly threw Ukraine’s battlefield maps aside, complaining about seeing them repeatedly. “This red line, I don’t even know where this is. I’ve never been there,” he reportedly said, expressing frustration with the ongoing conflict.   

 

Donbas region should be 'cut up', says Trump

 

Speaking later to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said the Donbas region should be “cut up”, effectively leaving much of it in Russian hands, as part of a settlement to end the war that has dragged on for nearly four years, Associated Press reported.

 

“Let it be cut the way it is,” Trump said. “It’s cut up right now. You can leave it the way it is right now.” He added that both sides should “stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people".

 

His comments came hours after Ukrainian drones struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, sparking a large fire at the Orenburg plant, a facility run by Gazprom. The attack forced the suspension of gas processing from Kazakhstan and damaged parts of the plant, according to Russian and Kazakh authorities.

 

The attack is part of Kyiv’s broader strategy of targeting Russian energy sites that fund and fuel Moscow’s military operations.

 

Meanwhile, Russian forces intensified their own strikes inside Ukraine. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, at least 11 people were injured when Russian drones hit residential buildings in the Shakhtarske area. A separate attack struck a coal mine, though all 192 miners were safely evacuated.   

 

Trump suggests Ukraine may need to give up territory

 

In a separate Fox News interview, Trump suggested that Ukraine may need to “give up land” for peace. When asked if Putin might agree to end the war “without taking significant property from Ukraine”, Trump replied, “Well, he’s going to take something.”

 

“They fought and he has a lot of property. He’s won certain property,” Trump said. “We’re the only nation that goes in, wins a war, and then leaves.”

 

Russia uses modified bombs in deep strikes

 

Despite Kyiv’s hopes, Trump did not commit to supplying Tomahawk missiles, which would have been Ukraine’s longest-range weapon and allowed it to strike targets deep inside Russia.

 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian prosecutors claimed that Russia has begun modifying its aerial-guided bombs to hit deeper targets inside Ukraine. In Kharkiv, officials reported that Moscow deployed a new rocket-powered aerial bomb, the UMPB-5R, capable of traveling up to 130 kilometres, to strike the city of Lozava, Associated Press reported.

 

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, while Ukraine said it had downed 40 out of 62 drones launched by Russia.

 

(With agency inputs)