Trump suggests it may not be possible to broker peace in Ukraine, as Putin leaves open nuke option

President Trump said Sunday that it may not be possible for the US to broker an end to the war in Ukraine — as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin left the door open for a nuclear option in the conflict.Despite claiming he would end the war within days of his second term, Trump said he now believes that a US-brokered permanent cease-fire after the three years of fighting between Ukraine and invader Russia may be out of reach.“Maybe it’s not possible to do,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “There’s tremendous hatred, just so you understand, Kristen,” he said.“We’re talking tremendous hatred between these two men [Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky] and between, you know, some of the soldiers, frankly.

Between the generals.“They’ve been fighting hard for three years.”Trump’s comments came as Putin on Sunday tried to quell fears that the costs of the war might eventually push Moscow into using nuclear weapons to defeat Ukraine — although he did not reject the idea outright.“They wanted to provoke us so that we made mistakes,” Putin said of the nuclear option.

“There has been no need to use those weapons … and I hope they will not be required.”Russia opened the door to the potential use of its nuclear arsenal, the world’s largest, in November, when Putin signed a revamped version of the nation’s doctrine allowing Moscow to launch a nuke in response to a broader range of attacks — as well as labeling nations that arm the Kremlin’s enemy as possible targets.Trump’s pessimism over the peace talks echoes the State Department’s announcement Friday that the US will end its efforts to broker peace if progress isn’t made soon.Still, while he acknowledged setbacks to the powwows, the president Sunday said he thinks his administration could have “a very good chance of doing it,” or helping to reach an agreement.Putin has repeatedly rejected America’s proposals for a cease-fire, claimi...