Donald Trump told European leaders after a phone call with the Russian president that Vladimir Putin was not ready to end the war, reports have claimed.
The alleged comments mark the first time that Trump has suggested that Putin is not interested in ending the war, despite having repeatedly claimed that the Russian leader wants the war to be over.
The Wall Street Journal, citing senior European officials familiar with the conversations, reported the story overnight.
The White House has since denied this account. Karline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump “did say he believes Putin is winning the war, but he never said ‘Putin isn’t ready to end the war’.”
It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia has suffered more than 63,000 casualties in Kursk and that Ukrainian operations there continue, hours after Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the region.
“Since the start of the Kursk operation in August, the Russian army has suffered significant losses – more than 63,000 killed and wounded in that area alone,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
