STORY: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday (October 19) he never asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cede all of the Donbas region to Russia in an earlier meeting, but that it should stay divided as it is.

"Let it be cut the way it is. It's cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia," Trump said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter onboard Air Force One.

Trump had pushed Zelenskiy to give up swaths of territory to Russia during a tense meeting on Friday (October 17) that left the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, according to two people briefed on the discussion.

After his meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines, a position that the Ukrainian president then embraced in comments to reporters. A third person said Trump came up with that proposal during the meeting after Zelenskiy said he would not voluntarily cede any territory to Moscow.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SPEAKING TO MEDIA ONBOARD AIR FORCE ONE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN AIR (OCTOBER 19, 2025) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - No use USA)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, WALKING TOWARDS MEDIA GATHERED ONBOARD AIR FORCE ONE

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“No, we never discussed it. We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines, where they are, the battle lines. You have a battle line right now. The rest is very tough to negotiate. If you're going to say, you take this, we take that. You know, there's so many different permutations. So what I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people, and be done.”

JOURNALIST ASKING: “What do you think should happen with the Donbas region then?”

“Let it be cut the way it is. It's cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now. They can, they can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people.”

4. WHITE FLASH

5. TRUMP WALKING AWAY FROM MEDIA