Trump on a deal between Putin and Zelenskyy: They do not have to be in the same room
US President Donald Trump has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy do not need to be in the same room to reach an agreement.
Source: Trump's press conference on 20 October, as reported by Clash Report
Details: Trump said that both Ukraine and Russia are losing many people, but Russia is a huge country while Ukraine is not.
He believes that Zelenskyy should want to end the war and that, if he doesn't, it will have some very bad consequences.
Quote: "Ukraine has to want to make a deal because the United States has spent a fortune. Europe has spent a fortune. Europe's tired of it right now. They're tired of it right now.
And if they don't make a deal, ultimately, it's just going to get worse."
Details: Trump later reiterated his version of events in the war in Ukraine, including his claim that, at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, one "very stupid [Russian] general" simply got lost on the way to Kyiv and became stuck in the mud.
He also said that the hatred between Putin and Zelenskyy is just enormous, and that this is the main reason they have not yet reached an agreement.
In his view, Putin and Zelenskyy do not need to be in the same room to sign a deal.
Quote: "I guess they can do it another way. It's hard for them to be in the same room.
I don't care how it's done."
Background:
- On 18 October, Zelenskyy accused Trump of trying to pressure Ukraine into capitulating to Russia and delaying deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems.
- On 19 October, Trump accused Zelenskyy of supposedly never having wanted to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
- On the same day, Trump told journalists that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had been fair towards Ukraine, and so had Russia.
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