Trump tells Ukraine they should not have started war with Russia
As U.S. and Russian officials met Tuesday in Saudi Arabia on ending the war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump responded to complaints from Kyiv that it was not part of the discussions.
"I have the power to end this war, and I think it's going very well," Trump said during a news briefing from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "But today I heard, 'oh well, we weren't invited.' Well, you've been there for three years. … You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished and not one dome would have been knocked down, but they chose not to do it that way."
Trump said he thought the talks with Russia in Riyadh — which marked a dramatic shift in relations between the countries since the war started on Feb. 24, 2022 — went well and that he's "much more confident" either a ceasefire or peace deal can be reached.
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A ceasefire would likely mean that Russia would remain in what was previously Ukraine's territory. There is the matter that the war started after Ukraine apparently sought to join NATO. That happened on Biden's watch and Biden seemed to think that was a possible outcome.
See also:
JD Vance Rebukes WSJ for Misleading Headline on Russia-Ukraine Stance
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“This is pure fake news. Compare the transcript of @JDVance’s conversation with WSJ to the headline being run here. The Vice President didn’t make any threats. He simply stated the fact that no one is going to take options away from President Trump as these negotiations begin.”
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The Kremlin reiterated its demands that Ukraine cede additional territory in eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and disband the Ukrainian military in the future while continuing to message that the Kremlin is unwilling to make territorial concessions itself in any future peace negotiations. Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Vasily Nebenzya stated during a UN Security Council meeting on February 17 that Ukraine has "irrevocably lost" Crimea, the "Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics" (referring to occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts), and Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts.[1] Nebenzya insinuated that peace negotiations should "correct" the situation in these oblasts and that Ukraine should cede the remaining parts of the four oblasts that Ukraine currently controls. Nebenzya is calling for Ukraine to cede the roughly 30 percent of the total area in Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts that Russia does not currently occupy. (Russian forces currently occupy roughly 99 percent of Luhansk Oblast.) Nebenzya also demanded that Ukraine become a "demilitarized" neutral state in the future and that Ukraine not join any alliances or security blocs.[2] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed on February 17 the possibility of Russia making territorial concessions during future negotiations.[3] Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in June 2024 that Ukraine should withdraw its forces from and cede any unoccupied territory in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts to Russia, and Nebenzya appears to be resurrecting this demand ahead of bilateral US-Russia negotiations.[4] US Special Presidential Envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg stated during the Munich Security Conference on February 15 that Russia must make territorial concessions during negotiations, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted on February 16 that US President Donald Trump wants to see the war end in a way that "protects Ukraine's sovereignty."[5]
Lavrov and Nebenzya also categorically rejected European involvement in future peace negotiations and accused European countries of being aggressive toward Russia....
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