Vladimir Putin immediately declared that the struggle in Ukraine may have been averted had Donald Trump not been ‘robbed of the election‘ in 2020.
Describing his armed forces’ full-scale invasion of their neighbour in February 2022 as a ‘disaster’, Putin instructed state media the horrific bloodshed that has blighted japanese Europe for nearly three years wouldn’t have occurred below a Trump presidency.
‘I can’t however agree with him that if he had been president, if his victory had not been stolen from him in 2020, then maybe there wouldn’t have been the disaster in Ukraine that arose in 2022,’ the Russian president stated.
His feedback got here as a part of a wide-ranging interview through which the Kremlin chief heaped reward on the newly inaugurated US president, labelling Trump ‘sensible and pragmatic’ whereas additionally signalling a willingness to method the negotiating desk over Ukraine.
‘He’s not solely a sensible particular person, however a practical particular person,’ Putin instructed state media of his American counterpart.
‘I’ve a tough time imagining there will probably be selections taken which might be detrimental to the American economic system.
‘As for the difficulty of negotiations… we now have at all times stated, and I wish to emphasise this as soon as once more, that we’re prepared for these negotiations on Ukrainian points.’
However Putin’s assertion belies feedback made by his personal International Ministry simply hours in the past which railed towards the continuing provide of Western arms to Ukraine’s armed forces and what it known as the ‘illegitimate Kyiv regime’.

Trump and Putin are pictured immediately. Describing his armed forces’ full-scale invasion of their neighbour in February 2022 as a ‘disaster’, Putin instructed state media the horrific bloodshed that has blighted japanese Europe for nearly three years wouldn’t have occurred below a Trump presidency

(FILES) Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and US President Donald Trump are pictured earlier than a gathering in Helsinki

President Donald Trump speaks within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington
‘Regardless of the more and more loud speak concerning the want for peace talks, no sensible actions indicating an actual readiness for them on the a part of Kyiv and the West are objectively noticed,’ the assertion learn.
‘The difficulty of the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities is just not being resolved.’
Kyiv was unsurprisingly fast to reply, with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s workplace issuing a tight-lipped assertion that there might be no peace talks between Putin and Trump with out the participation of European representatives.
Trump famously claimed following the outbreak of full-scale struggle between Russia and Ukraine throughout the Biden administration that he would be capable to ‘finish the struggle’ in 24 hours if he had been president.
Now virtually per week into his second presidency, the battle seems no nearer to its conclusion, with observers anticipating the Trump administration to successfully strong-arm each events into signing a peace deal.
On Wednesday, Trump warned his Russian counterpart that he would face taxes, tariffs and sanctions if Russia didn’t signal as much as a deal to finish the struggle in Ukraine.
The US president has beforehand warned that he may intensify the provision of arms to Ukraine if Moscow doesn’t come to the negotiating desk.
Delivering the risk on his Fact Social platform, the president wrote: ‘If we don’t make a “deal,” and shortly, I’ve no different selection however to place excessive ranges of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on something being bought by Russia to america.
However Trump’s advisers have additionally hinted the regular stream of Western army assist to Ukraine might be shut off if Kyiv refuses to countenance a deal.

A constructing lies in ruins after being hit by a Russian assault, on January 23, 2025 in Kostyantynivka, Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin described Trump as ‘pragmatic and sensible’ in feedback to state media immediately


Trump stated Zelensky is ‘no angel,’ and even claimed that he ‘should not have allowed this struggle to occur’
In a considerably inflammatory assertion concerning the Ukrainian chief, Trump just lately stated Zelensky was ‘no angel’ and insisted he ‘should not have allowed this struggle to occur’.
‘Initially, he is combating a a lot larger entity, okay, a lot larger. When he was, you recognize, speaking so courageous… Zelensky was combating a a lot larger entity, a lot larger, rather more highly effective,’ Trump stated.
‘He should not have performed that, as a result of we may have made a deal, and it could have been a deal… it could have been a nothing deal. I may have made that deal so simply,’ Trump stated.
‘However Zelensky determined “I wish to struggle”.’
Nevertheless, main political scientists and geopolitics analysts doubt the capability of Trump and his entourage to carry the struggle to an finish even inside 100 days – a purpose believed to have been set for Trump’s particular envoy to Ukraine, Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg.
Many argue that Russia’s higher hand on the battlefield and its efforts to construct stronger financial and political ties with different powers within the face of the West’s sanctions imply that Kremlin is coming to the negotiating desk with a robust hand of playing cards.
Famend political scientist and proponent of the realist philosophy of nice energy politics John Mearsheimer stated earlier this week: ‘The Russians are within the driver’s seat. The Russians, for good strategic causes from their perspective, are driving a tough discount.
‘It is virtually unimaginable for me to see President Trump accepting the phrases that the Russians demand.’