Overview

• The hot-mic clip, circulating widely from the White House video feed, captured the president saying “I think he wants to make a deal with me” without explicitly naming Putin or mentioning Ukraine.
• The remark came moments before a multilateral meeting convened European leaders to discuss Russia-Ukraine peace prospects, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in attendance.
• Trump’s comments follow his August summit in Alaska with President Putin, which ended without a ceasefire and shifted U.S. efforts toward a comprehensive peace framework.
• Critics warn that negotiating a settlement without direct Ukrainian input risks undermining Kyiv’s sovereignty and could entail contested territorial concessions in Donbas.
• European capitals and U.S. officials have signaled readiness for contingency security measures, including potential UK–France coalition actions and non-NATO guarantees to support Ukraine.