"This is something that could have been solved many times, but for whatever reason, Zelensky does not want to make a deal," he told journalists at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, returning from Tennessee to the White House.

"I think it would have been smart if he would have made a deal two years ago. He would have been a lot better off. He would have made a much better deal two years ago."

When asked about plans to send his representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Moscow for negotiations on Ukraine, the president said, "I think that Russia would like to make a deal."

MNA