Donald Trump just claimed Vladimir Putin is “destroying Russia” by not making a peace deal with Ukraine.
Speaking to the media after his inauguration on Monday, the US president hit out at the Russian leader for dragging out the war.
Trump said: ”[Ukrainian president Volodymyr] Zelenskyy told me he wants to make a deal, I don’t know if Putin does … He might not. I think he should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal.”
He continued: “I think, Russia is kinda in big trouble. You take a look at their economy, you take a look at their inflation in Russia.”
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Inflation is currently at 9.5% in Russia so interest rates have been pulled up to 21% – an exceptionally high rate, particularly when compared to the current 4.75% rate in Britain.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said earlier this month that officials have even resorted to depreciating the Russian ruble to get the economy back on an even footing.
The US president added: “I got along with [Putin] great, I would hope he wants to make a deal.
“He’s grinding it out. Most people thought it would last about one week and now you’re into three years. It is not making him look good.”
The Russian president allegedly planned to seize Ukraine’s capital just days after invading his smaller European neighbour – but Kyiv’s resistance means the city remains in Ukrainian hands almost three years later.
When asked about his own repeated pledge to end the war on his first day in office, Trump joked to the media on Monday: “I have another half of the day left.”
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Trump also slammed the high casualty rate in Russia, saying: “We have numbers that almost a million Russian soldiers have been killed.
“About 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers are killed. Russia’s bigger, they have more soldiers to lose but that’s no way to run a country.”
Ukraine has rejected Trump’s sums in the past, saying Ukraine’s army has recorded 43,000 military deaths while more than 370,000 have been injured.
Russia has refused to announce how many casualties it has counted, but UK intelligence said in early January that Moscow has suffered more than 790,000 deaths and injuries since the war began.
Despite Trump’s reference to their friendly relationship, the president’s first remarks on the conflict since being back in office certainly seem a long way off his initial reaction to Putin’s invasion back in 2022, when he said the attack was “savvy” and “genius”.
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Shortly before Trump’s swearing-in, Putin told Russia’s security council that Moscow welcomes his approach and “hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent World War III”.
He also added that “the most important thing is to remove the root causes of the crisis” – apparently forgetting that he was the one who chose to invade Ukraine in a land grab.
Putin continued: “As for the settlement of the situation, I would like to underline that its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations living in this region.”
It’s thought that a meeting between Trump and Putin has not been set up yet, although the US president has emphasised that he hopes to arrange it very soon.
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