Diplomacy Watch: Trump’s ‘gotta make a deal’ on Ukraine

President-elect Donald Trump said early this week that the Ukraine war “has to stop” and that people are “dying at levels nobody has ever seen.”

“Gotta make a deal,” he said about Ukraine. He didn’t say whether a prospective deal could include Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, or deal with Ukraine’s ongoing requests for NATO membership.

Trump echoed similar sentiments in a recent TIME interview, where he said “the number of people dying…[is] not sustainable…It’s really an advantage to both sides to get this thing done.”

Putin likewise reiterated interest in diplomacy during his annual conference on December 19, saying that “If we meet with Mr. Trump, we will have things to discuss…We have always said that we are ready for both talks and compromises.”

“Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out, in my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight. We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises,” Putin said.

The Russian president also said he would ask ousted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, now in Russia, about the whereabouts of American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria 12 years prior.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X Thursday after a meeting with the European Council. He seemed resigned to future talks, urging European unity heading into them:

“At the meeting of the European Council, I stressed that Europe and America must be at the table when the time comes. The EU, like Ukraine, must enter talks from a position of strength. Only coordinated efforts can bring lasting peace—not a pause Putin would exploit to buy time.”

Trump and Putin may say they’re for a deal, and Zelenskyy is anticipating negotiations, but other factors suggest tensions are still on the rise.

In the rest of his X thread, Zelensky continued to press for tougher sanctions on Russia and more weapons from the West to fight them.

“This will remain crucial next year – supplying weapons, boosting production, and strengthening sanctions on Russia to push them toward diplomacy. Europe must stay strong,” he said. “In January, President Trump will intensify efforts to end the war. It’s up to us whether Europe supports him with a strong, united voice.”

Meanwhile, North Korean casualties have been reported over the last week, with Ukraine alleging DPRK fighters are present in the Russian region of Kursk. Ukraine previously seized territory in the Kursk region during a summer offensive; the area has since been wrought with heavy fighting.

The soldiers are part of a contingent of 10,000 North Korean troops the U.S. and Ukraine say were recently sent to Russia. A U.S. official speaking to the Associated Press this week said the Kursk fighters did not appear battle-hardened.

The State Department condemned the apparent North Korean-Russian collaboration in a joint statement with other, mostly Western, Foreign Ministries on Tuesday, stating that “direct DPRK support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine marks a dangerous expansion of the conflict.”

“We are deeply concerned about any political, military, or economic support that Russia may be providing to the DPRK’s illegal weapons programs, including weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” the statement read.

Also escalating tensions, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, reportedly killed Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov this week in Moscow in a bomb attack. Russia’s security service subsequently said it detained an attack suspect, an Uzbek citizen recruited by Ukrainian intelligence. The Russian top state investigative agency is also looking into the death as a terrorism case. An SBU official said the SBU was responsible; Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak denied the claim.

The assassination follows others planned or carried out by Ukrainian forces in Russian-controlled territory, including the killing of Russian activist and blogger Vladlen Tatarsky last spring at a St. Petersburg cafe.

Notably, President-elect Donald Trump’s new envoy to Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, criticized the recent attack on Kirillov. He remarked on Fox Business that “There are rules of warfare and there are certain things you just kind of don’t do.”

“When you’re killing flag officers, general officers, admirals or generals in their hometown, it’s kind of like you’ve extended it, and I don’t think it’s really smart to do it,” Kellogg said. It was also announced this week that Kellogg would be traveling to Ukraine and several European cities on a “fact-finding mission” in early January.

Stavroula Pabst is a reporter for Responsible Statecraft.