US president Donald Trump has hinted at a possible breakthrough in efforts to secure the release of an American hostage held in Russia. He also defended his decision to keep diplomatic negotiations with Russian president Vladimir Putin open on Ukraine, Iran, energy pipelines and hostages.Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Monday (local time), Trump said he was seeking the release of a hostage whose case had remained unresolved for years, suggesting that progress could emerge soon.“Well, you’ll see soon enough, because I’m trying to get a hostage that the country’s been after for a long time, and before my time,” Trump said when asked what assurances Putin had given that he wanted to reach a deal. “And let’s see what happens, that’ll be—that’ll be soon.”Trump’s remarks followed his statement on Sunday that negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict were making “great progress”. He defended his approach towards Moscow, arguing that imposing further penalties could undermine ongoing talks.“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!”He added, “Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want!”Earlier, Trump had signaled that he was willing to hold a high-stakes trilateral meeting with Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war in Ukraine and pursuing global denuclearisation, even if Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was excluded from the negotiations. “Anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody’s there or not”, he said.Trump also cited Russia’s limited support for Iran amid escalating US economic and military pressure on Tehran as a reason to continue engaging with Moscow.“Russia could have done a lot more to help, if you put it bluntly, Russia could have done a lot more to help Iran. Russia has done very little for Iran, and China could have done a lot more for Iran. They’ve done, and I remember that. When China does not that much, maybe nothing almost, but very little for Iran, and Russia does very little for Iran, I view that as being a very positive thing”, he said.He added, “Russia’s done nothing there that we could see, and I think that’s a very positive.”Defending the broader negotiations, Trump said Washington was also discussing energy supplies and pipelines with Moscow, warning that he could withdraw from the process if the talks failed to deliver results.“And of course, we’re negotiating with him on Ukraine. So, I’m not looking to break up negotiations right in the middle,” he said. “And by the way, I have the right to do that at any time immediately. So if things don’t work out, I can always do it.”Trump’s outreach to Moscow has drawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers, particularly over sanctions and energy-related discussions. He said several lawmakers had contacted him after learning more about the negotiations
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