Big problems await Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to make an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, warned Donald Trump, who is the US president again since yesterday. “Putin has to make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal. "I think Russia is in big trouble," Trump told reporters on Monday.
At the same time, the US president expressed the opinion that Putin himself is also in the mood for a deal, as he is exhausted, Trump believes, recalling that this war was supposed to end in a week, but has been going on for three years.
"Unusually critical position towards Putin"
Commenting on these words of the new US president, the Agence France-Presse noted that this was "Trump's unusually critical position towards Putin, whom he admired in the past".
Speaking about the problems facing Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine, the US president pointed to the difficult economic situation and, in particular, high inflation. He confirmed that he was preparing to hold a personal meeting with the Russian leader to discuss options for ending the war in Ukraine.
"This war should never have started"
At the same time, Trump said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also told him during their personal meeting that he wanted an agreement to end the war. "Zelensky wants to make a deal", the American president said.
Asked by journalists if he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, as he promised during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump said that he had "another half a day" to achieve such a goal. "We will try to do it as soon as possible. You know, the war with Ukraine and Russia should never have started", Trump added.