The U.S. could withdraw from peace talks with Ukraine and Russia if the two sides can’t make progress toward ending their three-year war, President Donald Trump said.
Trump made the comments during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, telling host Kristen Welker that there is “tremendous hatred” between Ukraine and Russia.
The president says he remains hopeful a peace deal is possible, but confirmed that the U.S. would not remain a mediator indefinitely.
“I do believe we’re closer with one party. And maybe not as close with the other, but we’ll have to see,” Trump said. “Five thousand soldiers a week on average, are dying. They’re not American soldiers. But I want to solve the problem.”
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“How long do you give both countries before you’re going to walk away?” Welker asked.
“Well, there will be a time when I will say, okay, keep going, keep being stupid,” Trump replied.
“Maybe it’s not possible to do,” he added. “There’s tremendous hatred. Just so you understand, Kristen, we’re talking tremendous hatred between these two men and between, you know, some of the soldiers, frankly, between the generals, they’ve been fighting hard for three years. I think we have a very good chance of doing it.”
The interview comes just days after Trump blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioning whether his Russian counterpart has any interest in peace.
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Trump spoke up on social media last week after Russian forces launched missiles into Ukrainian cities.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also appeared to temper expectations for a major peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia last week.
Rubio argued it was “silly” to put a specific date or timeline on when the U.S. might pull out from mediation, but he said this will be “a very critical week.”
Days later, the White House signed a rare earth minerals agreement with Ukraine, a months-long priority for Trump.
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