Washington: US President Donald Trump reaffirmed that he wants to end the conflict in Ukraine, as the war with Russia goes on for the fourth year, amid fears that the US attempt to resolve the issue would affect Europe's security.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House late Friday, expressed optimism about a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. "I think that President Putin and President Zelenskyy are going to have to get together. Because you know what? We want to stop killing millions of people. Soldiers are being killed by the thousands a week, thousands of soldiers a week," he stated. Trump emphasized the necessity of ensuring Russia's willingness to participate in negotiations, saying, "I think we have a chance to get the deal done. I had to make sure that Russia wanted to do it."
Trump also highlighted the disparity in financial contributions to Ukraine between the US and Europe. He pointed out, "we've put in three times more money. We're in for USD 300 billion, they're in for USD 100 billion." He criticized the nature of Europe's aid, noting that Europe provides its aid in the form of loans, whereas the US aid under President Biden was given directly without stipulations. "There was no loan. There was no security. There was no anything," Trump remarked. He expressed concern over the US's financial outlay, stating, "We are spending our treasure on a country that's very, very far away and it's OK, but we have to be treated the same as Europe is being treated. Europe gets their money back."
Continuing his remarks, Trump underscored the financial losses the US is incurring, "We don't get our money back and we're losing. I mean, we don't want to do that anymore." He revealed plans for an agreement that would potentially return USD 400 or USD 500 billion to the US, indicating that such an agreement could be signed in the near future.