Trump says ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine are “coming to a head” but insists that neither side is “playing him” in his efforts to bring an end to the more than three-year old war.
The comments came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned earlier that the US may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.
“Marco is right in saying that we're getting — we want to see it end. Think of it, every day, a lot of people are being killed as we talk about, you know, as they play games,” said Trump.
The 47th US president stressed that it’s in the interest of both parties – Russia and Ukraine – to cooperate with his administration’s efforts before it is too late and Washington pivots its focus to other matters.
“If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, you're foolish, you're fools, you are horrible people, and we are going to just take a pass. But hopefully, we won't have to do that,” added Trump.
Reporters attending the briefing at the White House questioned Trump about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who for some time, has been accused by Ukraine of being the one to stall negotiations and not being serious about wanting peace.
“I hope not. I'm going to let you know about that soon, if he is, but I hope not," noted Trump.
Trump declined to definitively commit to Washington fully walking away if neither party are ready to make concessions to strike a deal. Answering reporters at the Oval Office, Trump shared “Well, I don't want to say that, but we want to see it end. We want to it end, yeah.”
The US president says that there is a big chance that Washington will be successful in its efforts to broker a deal to end the “grinding war”, while insisting that he’s not getting played. The war started in February 2022 after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We are going to see if we can get it done. I think we have a really good chance of getting it done, and it's coming to a head right now.”
Trump was also asked on whether Washington will continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially in the case that a deal to end the war cannot be reached. The US president declined to elaborate on future plans or contingencies, instead opting to remain positive.
“Well, I'm not going to say that. because I think we're going to get it done,” declared Trump.
