US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine—not Russia—is holding up a potential peace deal, Reuters reports.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to wrap up his nearly four-year-old war Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president said, was more reticent.

"I think he's ready to make a deal," Trump said of the Russian president. "I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal."

Asked why US-led negotiations had not yet resolved Europe's largest land conflict since World War Two, Trump responded: "Zelenskyy."

And asked why he believed Zelenskyy was holding back on negotiations, Trump did not elaborate, saying only: "I just think he's, you know, having a hard time getting there."

Trump's aforesaid rhetoric stands in marked contrast to that of European allies, who have consistently argued Moscow has little interest in ending its war in Ukraine, Reuters added.