Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday predicted that the Russia-Ukraine war could end before Christmas — if there’s a trilateral meeting between President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Make no mistake, this war is a war of aggression by Putin against Ukraine. However, I have always said Ukraine will not evict every Russian soldier and Putin is not going to take Kyiv,” Graham, a Trump ally and a staunch supporter of Ukraine, said in a post on social media platform X. “The key to ending this war honorably and justly is to create an infrastructure of deterrence that Biden and Obama failed to do — which will prevent a third invasion,”
“If in fact there is a trilateral meeting between President Trump, President Zelensky and Putin, then I am cautiously optimistic that this war will end well before Christmas,” the South Carolina Republican predicted.
Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, on Friday met with Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and top foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, for a closed-door meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska.
The president said after the meeting that both sides made progress on key points during the huddle, but he did not share any details or what sticking points remain in efforts to reach a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
“We didn’t get there, but we have a good chance,” Trump said.
Later, during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Trump said that it is up to Zelensky to get a peace deal done, indicating that there are “one to two” sticking points to hammer out before a potential truce is implemented.
“I mean, we were together almost three hours, and it was very extensive, and we agreed on a lot of points. I mean, a lot of points were agreed on, but there’s not that much, as you know, one or two pretty significant items, but I think they can be reached,” Trump said Friday night while on “Hannity.”
Trump said he will likely attend any meeting between Putin and Zelensky.
“And if they’d like, I’d be at that next meeting. They’re going to set up a meeting now … not that I want to be there, but I want to make sure it gets done,” the president said. “And we have a pretty good shot of getting it done.”
Graham, who has spearheaded a sanctions bill against Russia that would slap a 500 percent tariff on imports from any country that purchases Moscow’s uranium, gas and oil, said if the potential trilateral meeting does not take place, Trump “may have to go all in to punish those who buy cheap Russian oil and gas, propping up Putin’s war machine.”
“Well done, Mr. President,” the South Carolina senator added.
Graham also predicted on Friday that land swaps between the two Eastern European countries will likely be part of any brokered deal.
“There will be land swaps. You can’t evict every Russian, but the Ukrainians will make that deal, not the U.S., Ukraine will make that deal, and Trump set in motion the end of this war. Now,” the GOP senator said on Fox News. “I’ve never been more optimistic than I am right now.”
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