The Republican candidate has claimed during his campaign that he could end the war in one day if he is re-elected president.
Donald Trump thinks that the president of the United States, Joe Biden, is to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraineas he said in an interview on the social network X with billionaire Elon Musk on Monday.
In a scathing attack on the current president, Trump said Russia would never have invaded the country if Biden had not been in office. The Republican candidate argued that his “strong” relationship with Putin could have prevented the conflict, saying that he had even told Putin not to take action.
“I got along very well with Putin and he respected me“Trump told Musk, adding: “We were talking about Ukraine. She was the apple of his eye. But I told him not to“.
“Russia defeated Germany with us, and they defeated Napoleon. They have been with us for a long time. They are a great fighting force, and it is very unfair (…) We are in a very bad position. And I am not going to blame him (Biden ), exclusively, But I can tell you I could have avoided it.“Trump said.
The former US president also spoke on aid to Ukraineseeming to suggest that the EU should match its spending to that of the United States.
“I say, ‘why aren’t they going to match? Why aren’t they paying the same as us?'” Trump told Musk. “Why does the United States is paying disproportionately more to defend Europe what Europe? That doesn’t make sense. “It’s unfair, and it’s something that needs to be addressed.”
He also criticized EU trade rules, stating that “They take advantage of the United States a lot in trade“(The restrictions) are not as harsh as those (imposed on) China, but they are bad,” he added.
“He was very honorable to me”
Next, Trump praised the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he described as “honorable” for the way he handled the phone call with Trump in 2019.
“I mean, honestly, there’s no one who feels worse about the Ukraine situation than I do, because I know it never would have happened,” Trump said. “I know Zelensky. She was very honorable to me (…) It was a perfect call.“.
Trump’s comments on Ukraine come after leaked text messages between his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vanceand far-right conspiracy theorist Charles Johnsonin which Vance disparaged American support for Ukraine.
According to the Washington Post, Vance told Johnson: “Dude, I don’t even accept calls from Ukraine“. The text conversations are dated October 2023 and coincided with the attempt by Congressional Republicans to obstruct an aid package for Ukraine.
