Russia doesn’t want a deal with Ukraine? US President Donald Trump thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is...

US President Donald Trump has claimed although he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin was going to "be good" and move forward toward ending the war in Ukraine, he conceded it was possible the Russian leader doesn't want to make a deal.

"I don't think it's going to be a problem, to be honest with you. I think Putin is tired of it. I think they're all tired of it, but you never know," Trump said in an interview with a foreign news channel.

Also Read:Russia-Ukraine-US Peace Talks: Putin, Zelenskyy to meet within 2 weeks? What German Chancellor says

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Trump pushes for Putin–Zelenskyy meeting

Trump spoke a day after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House for talks on his peace initiative, which followed his summit with Putin in Alaska last Friday.

"We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks ... It's possible that he doesn't want to make a deal," Trump said, adding that Putin faced a "rough situation" if that were not the case.

After Monday's talks, Trump said he had called Putin to help arrange a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, to be followed by a trilateral meeting that would also include him.

The US president added that he believed relations between Putin and Zelenskyy might be "a little bit better" or else he would not have pursued their one-on-one meeting. "So we're setting up a meeting I sort of set up with Putin and Zelenskyy, and you know, they're the ones that have to call the shots," he said.

Also Read: US-Russia trade shows 20% growth under Trump administration: Putin

US Security guarantees in focus

Ukraine and its European allies have welcomed Trump’s assurances of security guarantees, including possible air support, to help bring the conflict to an end.

On the issue of guarantees sought by Kyiv, Trump said Europe was prepared to commit troops in some form, but the United States would not deploy soldiers on the ground, although it could provide other assistance.

"There'll be some form of security. It can't be NATO," Trump said. "They're willing to put people on the ground. We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about by air."

When asked what assurances he could give that US troops would not be deployed to defend Ukraine’s border, Trump replied: "You have my assurance. You know, I'm president."