Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin wants a meeting as soon as possible about the war with Ukraine

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 16, 2024.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his interest in a meeting regarding the war with Ukraine.

“President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible,” Trump said during his remarks at Turning Point’s America Fest convention. “So we have to wait for this, but we have to end that war. That war is horrible, horrible.”

Trump, who is set to return to the White House in January, previously said on the campaign trail that if elected, he could end the war “in 24 hours.” The president-elect recently criticized the policy change by President Joe Biden that allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russian territory.

The president-elect also recently said Ukraine will “possibly” receive less military aid once he takes office. Ukraine is heavily reliant on its international partners for military, financial and humanitarian aid that enables it to continue functioning as a state, and fighting Russia after almost three years of war. 

“The number of soldiers being killed…” Trump said Sunday. “It’s a flat plane, and the bullets are going and there’s powerful bullets, powerful guns, and the only thing that’s going to stop them is a human body.”

Earlier this month, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris along with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. After the meeting, Trump called for an “immediate ceasefire.”

— NBC News contributed reporting.