Trump said he was in a “very good dialogue” with Putin, but lamented that 7,014 people were killed this week alone in the Russian war with Ukraine. He also repeated his long-standing position, which he thought would be able to quickly close the Russian war, but was repeatedly stumped after taking office.
“We’re going to do that,” Trump said he hosted a technology executive at the White House. “This turns out to be even more difficult, but we’re going to get it done.”
Trump reiterated his commitment to end the war on Wednesday amid growing uncertainty about whether the meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelenkie is a key step in his trilateral proposal with Trump.
“I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it, and I’ve talked about it with President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said in an interview with CBS News. “Something is going to happen, but we’re not ready yet. But something is going to happen.”
On Thursday, White House officials said late Thursday, Trump urged European leaders to stop pressure Moscow to end the war with Ukraine on Russian oil purchases, saying that economic pressure should be applied to China to fund Russian war efforts.
Trump appealed when he called for a “pleasant” meeting hosted by Paris’ French President Emmanuel Macron, who was trying to garner support for Ukraine.
“President Trump stressed that Europe must halt Russian oil purchases, which fund the war, as Russia received 1.1 billion euros of fuel sales from the EU in a year,” authorities said in a statement. “The president also emphasized that European leaders must put economic pressure on China to fund Russia’s war efforts.”
Officials said Trump will soon be making an announcement about Russia, but did not lay out a solid timeline, calling it “divorcing opinions among European leaders on how to deal with ongoing conflict.”
rhm/