US President Donald Trump has revealed that he recently dialled Vladimir Putin to speak about the Ukraine war, adding that just like him, the Russian counterpart wants to end the conflict.
Speaking to the New York Post aboard Air Force One, Trump said the Russian leader "does care" about the deaths during the war and "wants to see people stop dying". With Ukraine struggling with shortage of soldiers and weapons, the Russian troops are advancing on the battlefield.
JUST IN: 🇷🇺🇺🇸 Russian President Putin says Donald Trump is a smart and experienced person who will come up with a solution to end the war in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/8C7dMObwMH
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) November 28, 2024
Claiming that he has a concrete plan to end the Ukraine conflict, Trump said, "I hope it's fast. Every day people are dying. The war is so bad in Ukraine. I want to end this damn thing."
"All those dead people. Young, young, beautiful people. They're like your kids, two million of them – and for no reason," Trump said.
However, Putin apparently prefers a gradual resolution to the war in order to bolster Russia's military position.
The US president claimed that the war would not have broke out if had been heading the government in 2022, adding that unlike Joe Biden, he always had good ties with Putin.
Taking a dig at his predecessor, Trump said Biden was an embarrassment to the US. "A complete embarrassment," he said.
Trump's remarks comes a week ahead of Vice President JD Vance's meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference. The president went on to says that he is hoping to get the Ukrainian leader to ink a $500 million agreement to grant the US access to rare-earth minerals and gas in exchange for providing security.
Earlier, Zelenskyy said that Putin wants to deal directly with Trump, adding that the Russian leader will sabotage negotiations. "We cannot let someone decide something for us," he told AP.
