Kiev should have pursued settlement earlier — Trump

"I said 'You have no cards'," the American president said, referring to his February meeting with Vladimir Zelensky at the White House. "That was the time to settle. I thought that would have been a much better time to settle… They have a lot of things against them right now," he added.

At that February meeting, the US president warned Zelensky that Washington would withdraw its support if Kiev failed to pursue a settlement. The White House chief stressed at the time that Ukraine had no leverage in the conflict.