US President-elect Donald Trump has stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should be ready to reach some form of agreement with Vladimir Putin to end the almost three-year-long war in Ukraine. “This must end,” said the future host of the White House.
“We have to make a deal,” he said Donald Trump at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He said he intended to talk to Putin and Zelensky about the end war in Ukrainealthough he once again refused to answer the question whether – as reported by the Washington Post – he had already talked to the Russian president by phone. He added that he was disturbed by images of carnage caused by the conflict. “This has to stop,” Trump said.
Trump: Photos from Ukraine resemble an image from the Civil War
– It's easy to say that Ukraine he wants his land back, but these cities are mostly destroyed. Russia she left Kiev, maybe because she plans to occupy it, but she hasn't done that yet, Trump said. When asked later whether he believed that Ukraine should give its territories to Russia, he replied that he would “let you know after the first meeting” with him. Vladimir Putinand then marked the scale of the destruction again.
– There are cities where there are no buildings left, so people cannot return there – he continued, emphasizing that the scale of destruction and victims requires an end to the war. He also added that the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky I want peace.
Trump said he was shown photos of Ukrainian battlefields strewn with bodies, which he said reminded him of some gruesome images from the American Civil War of 1861-1865.
He also said he wanted to end the war quickly, but was cautious about the details. In an interview with Time magazine published last week, he said he had a “very good plan” for resolving the situation in Ukraine, but if he revealed it now, “it would become an almost worthless plan.”
Main photo source: LLISON ROBBERT/PAP/EPA