Trump says Putin 'would like to end war' with Ukraine

by IANS |

Washington, Dec 4 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin "would like to end the war" in Ukraine, citing what he described as a "very good meeting" between Putin and two close Trump allies, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, in Moscow.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday (local time) that he had spoken with Kushner and Witkoff following their talks with Putin. "Their impression was that he would like to see the war ended," Trump said. "I think he'd like to get back to a more normal life. I think he'd like to be trading with the United States of America, frankly, instead of losing thousands of soldiers a week."

Trump added, "I thought they had a very good meeting yesterday with President Putin. We'll see what happens. It's a war that should never have been started. It's a war if I were president… that war would have never happened."

He also reiterated his longstanding claim that the conflict would not have erupted if he had been in office. "If I were president, no war would have ever happened. They would have had 100 per cent of their territory. Nothing would have happened," he said.

Trump described the battlefield toll as catastrophic. "Think of this -- last month, 27,000 soldiers… mostly young soldiers died last month; in one month," he said. "That's the only reason I'm trying to help."

He also said the US was no longer directly financing Ukraine's war effort, telling reporters, "We're not spending any money in the war, we're selling to NATO. We're not being ripped off like we were under Biden."

Asked about Kremlin statements suggesting no compromise was forthcoming, Trump replied, "I don't know what the Kremlin is doing."

The Trump team's back-channel contacts with Moscow have drawn global attention amid stalled frontline dynamics and ongoing diplomatic efforts. Casualty figures in the conflict remain contested, while the United States and European allies continue to debate next-phase military and political frameworks for ending the war.

President Putin arrives in New Delhi on Thursday for a summit talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.