Trump convinced Putin will not attack NATO: “I speak with him. I know him very well”

Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin has no intention of attacking NATO territory, even as signs of tension continue to surround efforts to end the war in Ukraine. “I speak with him. I know him very well. Putin has no intention of attacking NATO territory,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump repeated an assertion he made a week earlier during a conversation with journalists at the White House. At that time, he said the Russian leader “will not attack NATO territory” and described their discussions as “constructive.”

On Friday, Trump also announced another attempt to move peace negotiations forward. He said he had sent Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Moscow and Kyiv to present a peace proposal. “I sent them to see if we can make progress, and there is a very good chance we will succeed,” Trump said.

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I speak with him. I know him very well. Putin has no intention of attacking NATO territory.

Reuters, citing sources, reported that the initial plan called for Witkoff and Kushner to travel to Moscow over the weekend and then continue to Kyiv. The schedule changed in recent days, however, and one source said Friday that the visit to the Ukrainian capital was not yet certain.

Negotiations have reached a difficult point after months of efforts by the Trump administration to bring Russia and Ukraine closer to an agreement. No deal has been reached. Western intelligence agencies largely do not believe Putin is pursuing a short-term settlement, while Ukrainian intelligence offers an even more pessimistic assessment and says Russia could intensify the war. A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service in Kyiv on Friday. Witkoff, the main U.S. negotiator for the war, has visited Moscow several times but has not yet visited Ukraine.

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I sent them to see if we can make progress, and there is a very good chance we will succeed.