With both US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin having expressed their wishes to end the war in Ukraine, Trump, in the latest development, says he would speak to the Russian leader soon to help resolve the war in Ukraine. Just a day earlier, Putin said Russia is ready for talks with the United States on a wide range of issues. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump said he has spoken with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and wants to speak with his Russian counterpart, adding: “They would like to see an end to the war. I think President Putin would like to see a end of completion. to the war too.”
Trump has repeatedly been making claims that under his watch as president, the war would never have broken out. On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should have made a deal with Putin to avoid conflict.
Putin told Russian state television on Friday that Russia is open and ready for negotiations, adding: “We believe the president’s current statements about his readiness to work together.”
“We always had a business, pragmatic but also trustworthy relationship with the current president of the United States,” Putin said. “I couldn’t disagree with him that if he had been president if they had not stolen his victory in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided.”
The comments are seen as a bold endorsement of Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election. Putin stressed on Friday that he is open to talks, but noted Zelenskyy’s 2022 decision to rule out negotiations with Moscow.
Putin described Trump as “not only intelligent but a pragmatic man,” adding: “I find it difficult to imagine that he would make decisions that would harm the American economy.” “We’d better meet and have a calm conversation on all issues of interest to both the United States and Russia based on today’s realities,” Putin said.
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