The US President Donald Trump compared a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine to “two little kids fighting like crazy” and suggested that perhaps they should be allowed to. However, minutes later he stressed: “I’m in favor of stopping the killing, really”.
He said this at a press conference on the occasion of the visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the US White House.
Donald Trump was asked if he would impose new sanctions against Russia, and he replied that it would be "very, very tough" if it became clear that the war would not end soon.
"We will be very tough, whether itʼs Russia or anyone else, we will be very tough, there is bloodshed going on there," he declared.
And he added that he asked Putin not to strike in response to the Ukrainian special operation "Spiderʼs Web".
“I said, ʼDon’t do that. You shouldn’t do that. You should stop that.’ But again, there’s a lot of hate here,” Trump said.
When asked if he would continue to support Ukraine, Trump replied: "Yes, Iʼm with Ukraine. We just signed a big deal with Ukraine on minerals... Iʼm in favor of stopping the killing, really."
Also at the press conference, Trump repeated that he was dissatisfied with relations between Ukraine and Russia — "there is great hatred between them".
What preceded
On May 19, Trump held a series of talks with the leaders of Ukraine, the EU, and Russia. Before his call with Putin, he called Zelensky to ask what topics to raise. According to media reports, the Ukrainian president asked to discuss a 30-day ceasefire and an upcoming meeting between Zelensky and Putin, which Trump could join.
Trumpʼs conversation with Putin lasted more than 2 hours. Following the conversation, Putin stated that he was ready to work on a memorandum with Ukraine, which includes a ceasefire, and Trump said that the terms of the memorandum should be discussed only between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky, following the talks, said that Ukraine would not withdraw troops from territories partially occupied by the Russians. Earlier, media reported that Russia had made such a demand on May 16 at talks in Istanbul in exchange for a ceasefire.
Later, the US president directly stated for the first time that Putin was not ready to end the war against Ukraine. He made this statement in a conversation with European leaders who had not heard such rhetoric from their American counterpart before.
In Truth Social, Trump wrote that the Kremlin leader has “absolutely gone crazy” and is “killing people unnecessarily.” This is how the American president responded to Russia’s massive attacks on the night of May 24, 25, and 26.
WSJ sources said on May 26 that Donald Trump could impose sanctions against Moscow within weeks as he grows increasingly frustrated with Russiaʼs attacks on Ukraine and the slow pace of peace talks.
Already on June 4, Trump spoke with Putin. The latter threatened to respond to Ukraineʼs strikes on Russian planes.