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U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly said during his campaign that, if elected to a second term, he would be able to end the 

 “in 24 hours.” But since his Jan. 20 inauguration, the road to a peace deal has been fraught with changing dynamics between the U.S. leader, Ukrainian President 

Trump's rhetoric toward both Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved since the beginning of the year.

At the outset of his second term, Trump was conciliatory toward Putin, for whom he has long shown admiration. But in recent months the Republican leader has expressed 

, while he appears to have softened toward Zelenskyy after a February blowout in the Oval Office.

And on Tuesday, he said he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia — a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader’s repeated 

Here's a look at what Trump has said so far during his second term:

“We want to end that war. That war would have not started if I was president.”

Trump says his new administration has already had 

 with Russia and that he and Putin could soon take “significant” action toward ending the conflict, which began in February 2022.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left."

 on his Truth Social platform drew criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans in the United States, where defending Ukraine from Russian aggression has traditionally had bipartisan support. Zelenskyy said Trump was falling into a Russian disinformation trap — and he was quickly admonished by Vice President JD Vance about the perils of publicly criticizing the new president.

“You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”

 over the war in Ukraine, accusing him of not showing gratitude after he challenged Vance on the question of diplomacy with 

 being canceled and called into question the U.S. support of Ukraine in its defense against 

 to Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy to seek peace.

“I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word. You’re talking about Putin. I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word. I’ve known him for a long time. We’ve always gotten along well.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the U.S. president said he trusts the Russian president to hold up his end of a potential peace deal. The comments were among the last positive remarks Trump made about Putin this year.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”

In a Truth Social post, Trump was reacting to Russia attacking Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. It was the first of his rare criticism of Putin amid increased Russian attacks on Ukraine.

"A lot of his people are dying. They’re being killed, and I feel very badly about it.”

Trump addressed the toll on Ukrainians during an interview with ABC News after he met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral. It was the first time the two leaders had met since the Oval Office spat, and signaled a shift in Trump's attitude toward the Ukrainian president.

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!”

 made it clear he was losing patience with Putin as 

 and other Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles in stepped-up aerial attacks.

“He was very nice actually. We had a little rough times, sometimes. He was ... Couldn’t have been nicer. I think he’d like to see an end to this, I do.”

Trump had a closed-door meeting with Zelenskyy during a NATO summit in The Hague. Trump's comments to reporters later also opened the possibility of sending 

“We get a lot of bull--—t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

 also said he’s “not happy” with his Russian counterpart and that Moscow’s 

 is “killing a lot of people” on both sides. Trump's comments during a Cabinet meeting came a day after he said the United States would send more weapons to Ukraine. It was a dramatic reversal after earlier announcing a pause in the delivery of 

 to Kyiv, a decision that was made amid concerns that America’s 

military stockpiles had declined too much

“I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”

Trump's remarks to reporters came as Russia has 

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy. It’s been proven over the years. He’s fooled a lot of people before.”

Trump pushed harder against Putin during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. He said if there was no deal to end the war within 50 days, the U.S. would impose “secondary tariffs,” meaning taxes would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow.

Trump and Rutte also discussed a rejuvenated pipeline for U.S. weapons. 

European allies plan to buy military equipment

"There’s no deal until there’s a deal."

 from Putin during a summit in Alaska to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, falling short in his most significant move yet to stop the bloodshed, even after 

The U.S. president had wanted to show off his deal-making skills. Instead, he handed Putin long-sought recognition on the international stage, after years of Western efforts to make him a pariah over the war and his crackdown on dissent, and forestalled the threat of additional U.S. sanctions.

“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like 'a paper tiger.' ”

Trump posted on social media soon after meeting with Zelenskyy on the 

sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly

He also said he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a departure from 

 that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since it seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

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U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly said during his campaign he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours” upon taking office.

In his words: Trump’s rhetoric about Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved

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