Trump Claims Putin "Tired" of War
US President Donald Trump believes that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is tired of war and wants peace.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to his interview with Fox News during Trump's visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Trump explained that he did not go to Turkey because of his exhausting schedule and did not want to ‘disappoint the UAE’. The US president insisted that Putin was ‘at the table’ of negotiations and allegedly wanted this meeting in Istanbul, which he did not attend.
"He is at the table, and he wanted this meeting. I always believed that the meeting could not take place without me, because, in my opinion, there is no deal without me," Trump said.
He boasted of his ‘very good relationship with Putin’ and said he could ‘make a deal’.
The host reminded Trump of his post after the massive Russian strike with an appeal to Putin - ‘Stop, Vladimir’ - but Trump did not blame Putin for the continuation of hostilities.
In his view, Putin wants peace and is tired of war and is looking for ways to save face.
In addition, Trump evaded a direct answer to the host's question about whether he considered Putin to be the main obstacle to peace in Ukraine.
Instead, the US leader shifted the focus to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noting that he had a ‘pretty tough conversation’ with him.
"I've always said he has no trump cards. And he really doesn't," Trump added.
On 15 May, the day Zelenskyy was waiting for Putin in Turkey, Trump said that a peaceful settlement of Russia's war against Ukraine could not take place without his meeting with the Kremlin's master.
The next day, the US president said he planned to meet with Putin ‘as soon as we can arrange it’ and that he would ‘possibly’ call the Russian leader to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine.
As The Gaze reported earlier, since his February 12 phone call with Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump has increasingly echoed Russian talking points on Ukraine