WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested during an interview that aired Thursday night that Ukraine should not have fought when Russia invaded the country.
“Zelenskyy was fighting a much bigger entity, much bigger, much more powerful,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “He shouldn’t have done that because we could have made a deal.”
Trump has previously argued that Zelenskyy should have made a deal with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to avoid the war, a stance he reiterated in the Fox News interview.
“I could have made that deal so easily, and Zelenskyy decided that, ‘I want to fight,'” Trump said.
Trump went on to compare the number of tanks each country had, emphasizing that Russia had more.
“You don’t fight those,” Trump said.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked how Trump thinks Ukraine should have responded when Russia launched its invasion. The Ukrainian embassy in Washington, D.C. also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia, a U.S. adversary, attacked Ukraine, a U.S. ally, in February 2022. Casualties are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, though exact numbers are unclear.
Former President Joe Biden, who was in power at the time Russia attacked, consistently emphasized his alliance with Ukraine, pushing for aid packages for the beleaguered country and praising Zelenskyy’s leadership. The Biden administration also placed sanctions on Russia shortly after its invasion of Ukraine, citing the war and other issues.
Trump has taken a markedly different approach, saying in the Fox News interview that Zelenskyy is “no angel,” adding that the Ukrainian president “shouldn’t have allowed this war to happen.” Trump also said that if Russia does not move to “settle this war soon,” the U.S. would put “massive tariffs” and “big sanctions” on Russia.
Trump has previously said he would end the war within one day. However, there are currently no signs that the war is any closer to ending.
Trump met with Zelenskyy in September of last year, when the then-candidate said that he would work to end the war with a deal “that’s good for both sides.”
“We’re going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled and get it worked out,” Trump had said to reporters before the two men met.
That same month, Trump also referred to Putin during a campaign rally as “no angel.”
Trump’s comments came during a two-part Fox News interview that was taped on Wednesday. The second portion of the interview, which contained Trump’s comments about Zelenskyy, aired on Thursday.
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