US President Donald Trump has said that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he hoped the war in Ukraine would soon be settled.

“I had a very good talk with President Putin,” Trump said on Tuesday during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Türkiye.

“We had a long talk, it lasted a long time. And I also spoke with President Zelenskyy right after that. I think they both want to make a deal. ... I think we’re going to get it settled, hopefully soon.”

Zelenskyy and Trump are expected to meet at the NATO summit on Wednesday following months of Ukraine’s stepped-up attacks on Russia’s energy sector, and Moscow’s massive strikes that killed 50 people in Ukraine’s capital in July alone.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he plans to discuss Ukraine’s desperate need for air defence systems to defend against Russia’s deadly ballistic strikes.

Greenland tensions

Trump also said that Greenland should be controlled by the United States, not Denmark.

Trump’s assertions that the US must acquire or control Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, sparked tensions between Washington and Copenhagen, both founding NATO members, and more broadly across Europe. The issue has since moved to a diplomatic track.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters.

Trump said the issue of control over Greenland had harmed US ties with NATO.

“That’s what hurt my relationship with NATO, because Greenland doesn’t help Denmark. Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States, and it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships, and that’s not going to happen,” he said.

“They wouldn’t go along with it, and with all the money we spend to help them with Russia.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in June that conversations with Denmark and Greenland were continuing monthly.