War

One thousand three hundred fifty-second day. “You have to work this out.” Trump said Putin asked him to help end Russia's war with Ukraine

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters in our daily materials because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us the thoughts you have about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect you, your life, the lives of your loved ones and your attitude towards the world? Find the feedback form at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .

World

US President Donald Trump said that two weeks ago Russian President Vladimir Putin himself asked him to help end the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Trump claims Putin told him that Russia “has been trying to end this war for ten years.”

"I spoke to Putin two weeks ago, and he said: 'We've been trying to end the war for 10 years, but we never succeeded. Now you have to settle it,'" the US president said.

The Kremlin did not comment on Trump's words.

Putin has argued many times that Russia “did not start” the war (even though it was she who started it), but on the contrary, seeks to end it. According to Russian propaganda, Western countries, which did not take into account Russia’s interests, and Ukraine, which was planning to join NATO and allegedly carried out “genocide of the Russian-speaking population” in the Donbass, are to blame for the conflict.

Trump has repeatedly stated publicly that he is confident that Vladimir Putin wants to end the war. He also said that the Russian President “really wants to do business with the United States” and is committed to restoring contacts with Washington.

Throughout 2025, Trump stated that he was ready to help resolve the conflict as soon as possible - and then he invariably moved these deadlines. On November 3, the US President again expressed confidence that the war could be ended “in a couple of months.”

Trump and Putin spoke by phone on October 16, the eve of the US President’s meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. During that conversation, Trump and Putin agreed to meet in Budapest in the near future.

The summit was soon canceled by Trump himself. He explained this by saying that he “didn’t want to have an empty meeting.” American media, citing sources, later wrote that this happened due to Moscow’s uncompromising position: Russia insists on territorial concessions from Kyiv. Trump proposed a ceasefire on the current front line, a position supported by Ukraine and the EU.

Shortly after the cancellation of Trump's meeting with Putin, the United States introduced a new package of sanctions - the first since Trump returned to the White House. Restrictions were imposed on two key companies in the Russian oil and gas sector - Rosneft and Lukoil.

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

How we choose letters

Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Anonymous reader . A little over three years ago my world came crashing down. I have been interested in the history of the Third Reich for a long time, and that day I felt like one of its characters. Only the side was not what I wanted.

I work in the field of education. This is probably one of the areas that has changed the most. Reluctantly, I hold patriotic events, during which the words that come out of my mouth are far from the ones that lie in my soul. I convince myself that I’m only doing what’s best for the children, and I’m not instilling in them this feeling of guilt for what adults do in this country. But my soul is sick.

I myself stopped eating myself at the moment when the drone ended up in a children's hospital in a neighboring city. Then something clicked in my head, and I realized that everyone in this war is wrong. And I don’t want to sympathize with another country while hating my own. My country does not allow drones to fly into the house where I live. A foreign country is trying to kill me simply for the fact of a red passport and Russian words inside it. And then the letters “SVO” ceased to be for me something for which I should ask for forgiveness. I became more insensitive and cruel. It is unlikely that Ukraine wanted to achieve this, but what happened, happened.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who went through this. I’m not the only one who went from “I hate my people for... and...” to “actually there are creatures on both sides” because of a missile or drone that flew too close.

Share your thoughts about the war

"Jellyfish"