President Donald Trump accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of disappointing him as the battle between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on despite Trump’s efforts to end the war.
The president claims that in the first nine months of his second administration, he has helped broker peace in at least seven wars.
“The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin, but he’s let me down. He’s really let me down,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, “was going to be Russia and Ukraine, but we’ll see how that turns out.”
TRUMP SWAPS WINDSOR CASTLE FOR CHEQUERS IN FINAL LEG OF UK STATE VISIT
Trump continued, “I thought it might be among the easiest of the group, but we have settled just about every conflict. And as you know, we’re working very hard on Israel and Gaza.”
Trump’s push to broker a peace deal with Ukraine and Russia has stalled even after a historic meeting between the president and Putin in Alaska last month that featured a red carpet rollout.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a cadre of European Union leaders then came to the White House to discuss the war with Trump after he met with Putin and to stave off another disastrous meeting between the U.S. president and the Ukrainian leader.
Nevertheless, Putin has not yet agreed to meet with Zelensky and continues his attacks against Ukraine, although Trump said Russia is suffering as the war is prolonged.
“Putin is killing many people. He is losing more people than he is killing,” Trump said. “Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers.”
The president also claimed that he did not regret inviting Putin to the United States and again pressured the European Union to stop buying oil from Russia.
“Was it a mistake to invite him to Alaska. Do you regret it?” a reporter asked him.
“No,” Trump responded.
LAVISH STATE BANQUET CAPS DAY OF MAGNIFICENT CEREMONY FOR TRUMP IN UK
“If the price of oil comes down, Putin is going to drop out. He’s going to have no choice. He’s going to drop out of that war,” Trump said.
Trump will finish his three-day visit to the United Kingdom at Chequers, after which he is set to return to the U.S.