President Donald Trump said on Friday he believes it will be easier to deal with Moscow than Kyiv in arriving at a final settlement to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin holds “all the cards.”
Trump said “anyone” in Putin’s position would be bombarding Ukraine given the current battlefield dynamics. And even though Trump said he wanted to help Ukraine, he said Kyiv needed to “get on the ball” and work toward a peace agreement.
“I think we’re doing very well with Russia, but right now they’re bombing the hell out of Ukraine. And Ukraine, I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine, and they don’t have the cards,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“In terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising, because they have all the cards,” he went on.
Earlier Friday, Trump had threatened new sanctions on Russia as it launches huge strikes across Ukraine. Yet in the Oval Office, Trump still sounded a conciliatory note toward Putin.
“I actually think he’s doing what anybody else would do,” Trump said. “I think he wants to get it stopped and settled.”
“He’s been hitting him. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now. He wants to get it ended,” Trump went on.
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