US President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed his frustration about the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine, asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop ‘shooting’ and ‘sign the deal’ to end the war.
Speaking to reporters at a New Jersey airport on the day, Trump seemed to be disappointed with the extended hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv.
When asked what he wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to do, he said he wants the leader to sit down and “sign the deal”.
“Well, I want him to stop shooting. Sit down and sign the deal. We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it,” Trump was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
When asked if he trusts President Putin, the US President said, “I’ll let you know in about two weeks”.
However, he evaded questions on what will happen in these two weeks.
“Two weeks or less,” he said, without clarifying, adding, “but you know they’re losing a lot of people. We have 3,000-4,000 people dying every week.”
Trump clarifies relationship with Zelensky
Speaking to the reporters at the airport, Donald Trump further said there was an improvement in his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since they met at the White House and got engaged in a heated argument.
“It was never bad. We had a little dispute, because I disagreed with something he said, and the cameras were rolling and that was okay with me.”
He indicated that Zelensky wanted to make a deal with Russia too.
“I see him as calmer. I think he understands the picture, and I think he wants to make a deal,” Trump said.
Donald Trump on Crimea
Donald Trump also suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to give up Crimea as the price of a peace deal with Russia.
He said that his one-on-one meeting with Zelensky at the Vatican on Saturday had gone well.
Asked if Zelensky might be ready to give up Crimea – the Black Sea peninsula seized by Russia in 2014 – as part of a future peace deal with Moscow, Trump said, “Oh, I think so, yeah. Look, Crimea was 12 years ago.”
Trump then blamed his Democrat predecessors, Presidents Barack Obama and President Joe Biden, for having allowed Russia to take Crimea “without a shot being fired”.
“So, don’t talk to me about Crimea. Talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea. And remember, this is Biden’s war. This isn’t Trump’s war. I came in to try and solve a problem. And the problem is so many people are being killed,” he said.