Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
Trump noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed interest in meeting soon as part of the ongoing developments.
“Yes, he’s ready to negotiate a deal. He’d like to stop this,” Trump said. “He’s somebody that lost a lot of soldiers, and so did Russia. … Russia lost more soldiers. They lost 800,000. Would you say that’s a lot? I’d say it’s a lot.”
Trump also noted China’s role with Russia. “I think they have a lot of power over Russia, so I think Russia should want to make a deal,” Trump said. “From what I hear, Putin would like to see me, and we’ll meet as soon as we can.”
The comments came one day after Trump shared a post to his Truth Social account on Wednesday calling on Russia to “make a deal” to end the conflict in Ukraine.
“I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin – and this despite the Radical Left’s Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process, Trump began.
“All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” he continued.
Trump warned that taxes, tariffs and sanctions would be made against Russia if the war is not ended soon.
“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” he wrote.
The president argued that the war with Ukraine could be ended the “easy” way or the “hard” way.
“Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!” he concluded.