US President Donald Trump. Photo credit: Ron Sachs/CNP / SplashNews.com / Splash / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump admitted on Friday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could try to stall the conflict in Ukraine, while appreciating that he wants an agreement, AFP reported, according to Agerpres.
“Yes, I am,” Trump said when asked if he was concerned that the Kremlin leader might be trying to buy time.
“It is possible. Yes, a little bit of time,” he added in front of the press, at the White House reception of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“But I think I'm pretty good at tricks like that. I think he (Putin no) wants to make a deal,” he added.
“I think he should have won the war in a week, I really do. And if we hadn't given them anti-tank missiles (to the Ukrainians, in his first term in the White House, no), as you know, the Javelins are called, they got stuck in the mud, they would have been in Kiev very quickly (…). It was a very interesting moment when the tanks started to move, and a smart general said, “let's go through mud, instead of going on the highway,'” President Trump also said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed to the White House by Donald Trump on Friday, just a day after the US president announced plans to meet in Budapest with Vladimir Putin to try to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy, who arrived in Washington on Thursday, made his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power, following a disastrous televised showdown in February and a reconciliation meeting in August, as the US leader's stance on the war continues to waver.
Trump's latest change of attitude took place on the eve of Zelenskiy's visit. He announced that he would meet Putin in Budapest, possibly in the next two weeks, in a new attempt to reach a peace deal and end Moscow's 2022 invasion.
Ukraine had hoped that Zelenskiy's visit would be more about increasing pressure on Putin, particularly by acquiring US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles with a long range capable of striking deep into Russia.
Trump said Thursday that he had a “very productive” call with Putin and that they would meet in the Hungarian capital. He added that he hoped to have “separate but equal meetings” with both Putin and Zelenskiy, but gave no further details.
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