Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested he is open to ending his country’s war on Ukraine at former President Donald Trump’s insistence, with the Kremlin tyrant saying he believed the Republican nominee spoke “sincerely” about wanting to bring the 32-month-old conflict to a close.
“What Mr. Trump said recently, what I heard, [is] he spoke about the desire to do everything to end the conflict in Ukraine,” Putin, 72, said during a news conference at the BRICS bloc summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
“It seems to me that he said it sincerely. We certainly welcome statements of this kind, no matter who makes them,” he told reporters.
Hours later, Trump, 78, told supporters in Nevada that his efforts to bring about a truce could start on election night if he becomes the 47th president.
“I’m going to work on that from the day — hopefully the day that we win, which is November 5th, in the evening,” the 45th president said during a rally in Las Vegas.
“On the evening of November 5th, I will call Putin. I will call [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky. I’ll say, ‘We got to stop it.’”
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Trump claimed that the war never would have started if he had been re-elected to the White House in 2020.
“Under our administration, Russia respected America, just like every other country respected America, but now Joe Biden is seen as weak,” Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference two days later.
“As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president.”
While meeting with Zelensky at Trump Tower last month, Trump also boasted about his ties with Putin — which have drawn scrutiny and criticism from members of both parties over the years.
“We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin,” Trump told Zelensky at the time in front of reporters.
“And I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”
