Donald Trump broke the deadlock with Vladimir Putin regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.

• The claim mirrors a statement by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who said Trump "broke the deadlock when it comes to Ukraine, he broke the deadlock with Russia" and that only the American President could "start the dialogue again with President Putin on how to end this terrible war"¹.
• Rutte repeated this at the NATO Public Forum, commending Trump for "breaking the deadlock" by initiating dialogue with Putin, while cautioning it would not produce an immediate deal².
• Multiple independent outlets (UnHerd, RBC-Ukraine, and video coverage) report the same Rutte remarks, confirming the claim as an accurate reflection of that assessment¹³².
• The verified-claims database likewise finds that the US has been actively working to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine (95%), including renewed talks and dialogue with both sides⁴.
• Caveat: "Broke the deadlock" refers to restarting dialogue, not to achieving a peace deal — talks continued to face roadblocks, and no ceasefire was reached at the time¹².

Overall validity: 85%