There is a scheduled meeting in Saudi Arabia, a 30-day ceasefire, and frequent discussions with Ukrainians and Russians. His campaign promise to end this war is becoming his administration’s top priority. The next weeks or months will be decisive in the still-uncertain future of this complex geopolitical conflict.

While his predecessor, Biden, focused more on military aid and sanctions, Trump is more open to negotiations. His motivations behind wanting to end the war were to re-establish diplomatic relations with Russia and stop sending too much money to Ukraine.

The percentage of total US government support for Ukraine is 42.7%. According to the Kiel Institute, this represents approximately 119.7 billion dollars between February 2022 and December 2024. It includes military, humanitarian, and financial donations as well.

Less than a week after Trump’s first phone call with President Putin, in which they agreed to start negotiations, a summit was set up. Marco Antonio Rubio, the United States Secretary of State, and Sergey Lavrov, a Russian diplomat, met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a peace talk. Although this summit represents a great step in the long road towards peace in Ukraine and the EU, the other major players were not involved.

Putin said, “Europe had nothing with the talks in Riyadh, as they were focused on establishing trust between Washington and Moscow, which he said was key.” Marco Rubio added, ” Ukraine and Europe will be part of the real negotiations”. Confirming Putin’s statements.

Trump and Putin’s last phone call on March 18 made Moscow finally accept a ceasefire. Putin agreed to a 30-day halt on energy facility strikes but no complete Ukraine ceasefire, as told by Trump before their 90-minute call. Due to the significant advances of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, Putin might have avoided making more advantageous concessions, according to Reuters.

This bloody war started three years ago and began its fourth year in February 2025. The casualties of the war vary from different sources. According to various newspapers, the Russian soldiers’ deaths are estimated to be 147,000 to 211,000. For the Ukrainian army, there are fewer deaths, and they could range from 43,000 to 70,400. These numbers are certainly higher than the ones revealed by the Russian and Ukrainian armies, as both countries want to prove their power and control of the situation.

Sources: CNN, The Institute for the Study of War with AIE’s Critical Threat Project

According to the latest data, eighteen percent of Ukraine’s territory is under Russian control. By the end of negotiations, will Ukraine have to leave one-fifth of its territory to Russia? Will minerals and natural resources be overexploited to pay back the US contribution to the war? Trump mentioned last week that they had agreed to conclude a comprehensive agreement as soon as possible.

This war allowed the United States to show Putin that he was not immune from reprisal and that the international community could not tolerate such actions. Therefore, NATO would serve as a deterrent to Putin from attacking Ukraine, and Moscow will most likely refuse Kyiv from joining NATO’s ranks.

After sacrificing their lives, their houses, and their families due to the war, Ukrainians’ interests seem to be neglected by Trump, according to Ukrainians who feel betrayed and think that the US could have done more.