After the war ends, U.S. will do business with both Ukraine and Russia, Trump says

On October 24, 2022, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States plans to do business with both Ukraine and Russia following the end of the war in Ukraine. According to Trump, "We'll do business with Ukraine and with Russia after this war ends, I would think."

Earlier in the week, Trump suggested imposing 200% tariffs on Ukraine and Russia, hoping this would force both sides to reach a peace deal. He claimed that such tariffs have previously ended five wars. However, Trump expressed doubt about the effectiveness of this approach with Ukraine and Russia, stating "Never thought of it. But we don't buy enough to do it to them, so it doesn't work."

On October 21, Trump reportedly discussed settling Russia's war against Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump stated, "I was talking to [Putin] about settling his war with Ukraine, which I think we're getting closer to, by the way, maybe now the closest we've been."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on October 20. Witkoff later traveled to St. Petersburg to meet with Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace, accompanied by Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Witkoff said he had presented Putin with documents outlining approaches to ending the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov later stated that the talks were "heading toward an end to the war in Ukraine."