Washington: US President Donald Trump said he believed an agreement to end the Ukraine war was close, while suggesting that the country would emerge with changed borders and declining to say whether he trusted its leader more than Russia’s president.
In an interview with Ross Douthat for CBS News’ “60 Minutes”, Trump blamed hostility between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for obstructing peace. He offered no detailed terms for a settlement.
“I believe we’re very close to making a deal,” Trump said.
Asked which leader he trusted more, Trump replied: “Well, I’d rather not say, but I get along with both.”
Trump predicted that the war would end soon.
Douthat challenged Trump’s description of mutual hostility as the main obstacle, asking whether Zelenskyy’s anger was more understandable because Ukraine had been invaded.
Trump acknowledged that point, then said Russia had been shown disrespect at an earlier meeting. He repeated his assertion that the war would not have started had he been president.
Asked whether Putin was stringing him along, Trump said: “Oh, I don’t think so.”
Douthat pressed him on his repeated predictions of peace and questioned whether his administration had reduced pressure on Moscow. He cited a recent easing of restrictions involving Russian diesel.
Trump disputed that description. He said he had made it possible for Russia to supply diesel to the world and argued that the move met a need rather than granting Moscow a major favour.
The discussion also exposed differences over how to describe American military support for Ukraine. Douthat said Europe was now supplying weapons. Trump replied that the weapons were American, with European countries paying for them.
“But Europe is paying for them,” Trump said.
He contrasted that arrangement with aid provided under former President Joe Biden, arguing that European governments had the money to pay but had not previously been asked to do so.
Trump praised Ukrainian forces for their courage in using the weapons. But when Douthat suggested that American assistance had secured Ukrainian independence, Trump said the outcome remained unresolved.
Asked whether he expected a free and independent Ukraine to emerge, Trump said: “I think we’re gonna have it done, and I think it’s gonna happen and they’re gonna end up with a little bit different shape Ukraine.”
He did not specify which territories that would involve or what security arrangements would accompany an agreement.
Douthat also questioned Trump about a reported slowdown in Starlink satellite service used by Ukraine. Trump said he did not know who was responsible and later questioned whether a slowdown had been established.
“Well, I know this, I can’t tell you who turned it down. I can tell you ultimately he turned it back up and so they have it,” Trump said, referring to Elon Musk. The supplied transcript included no response from Musk, Russia or Ukraine.
(IANS)
