WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that delaying a peace agreement with Russia could leave Ukraine in an increasingly difficult position, arguing that Moscow was steadily gaining territory and that Kyiv might no longer be able to secure the terms available earlier in the conflict, IANS reported from Washington on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Vice President JD Vance, Trump said Russia's military advantage and Ukraine's mounting casualties made a negotiated settlement increasingly urgent. 'Russia's a big machine. They just keep grinding forward, and that's what they've done,' Trump said. 'Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelensky has to want to settle this war. And if he doesn't, I think it's going to be a very bad thing.' Trump's description of battlefield developments was not accompanied by independently verified territorial data, and his estimate that Russia and Ukraine had together lost 32,000 people during the previous month was presented as his own assessment and was not independently verified.

Trump also criticised the scale of American financial and military assistance to Ukraine, saying Washington had spent hundreds of billions of dollars supporting Kyiv — yaani, in South Asian terms, a sum running into several lakh crore rupees' worth of aid, by his account — and argued that Zelensky could have negotiated a more favourable agreement earlier. 'Could have made a good deal then. Could have made a much better deal then probably, possibly, that he can make now,' he said, referring to a previous Oval Office confrontation involving Zelensky, Trump and Vance. Asked whether the Russian and Ukrainian leaders would have to meet in person to conclude an agreement, Trump said such a meeting was not essential: 'They don't have to be in the same room; I guess I can do it another way.' He attributed the difficulty of a deal partly to personal hostility between Putin and Zelensky.

In a separate exchange, Trump disclosed that he had raised the case of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American school teacher held by Moscow, directly with Putin. 'I've been talking to President Putin about Mr. Hubbard,' Trump said. 'I've been talking to him at length. I've asked him to release him, let's see what happens.' He declined to confirm whether a prisoner-release agreement was imminent but suggested reporters revisit the matter within a few days: 'I'd love to get him back. It's time to have Mr. Hubbard back.' Reuters, in a separate brief on Tuesday, likewise reported that Trump had raised Hubbard's case with Putin and hinted that a development could happen soon — but no agreement or timetable has been announced.

The remarks came as Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff prepared to travel to Russia following diplomatic discussions in Oslo aimed at advancing efforts to end the war. Reuters reported that Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after what a US official called 'constructive' talks with Zelensky in Norway, and that Ukraine brought forward new ideas and proposals to the Oslo talks, which also involved the leaders of Norway and Finland and European and NATO representatives, with participants making 'meaningful progress' toward a coordinated approach to engaging Russia. Zelensky has separately said US intelligence sharing on Russian missile attacks 'works now' after the Oslo talks. The sequence — public pressure on Kyiv, a prisoner case raised leader-to-leader, and an envoy shuttling to Moscow — sets up Wednesday's Witkoff-Putin meeting as the next test of whether Washington's push produces a ceasefire framework or another round of recrimination.

Sources: IANS, 'Trump warns Zelensky to make deal with Russia', 21 October 2026; Reuters World News Summary — 'US envoy Witkoff to meet Putin, Trump presses Kyiv to settle' and 'Trump says he asked Putin to release American Stephen Hubbard', 20 October 2026.