Trump says he’s willing to meet Putin ‘soon’

The US president has said he wanted to “get that war ended” in order to stop lives being wasted

US President Donald Trump has said he would “very much like” to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “soon” in order to end the ongoing Ukraine conflict. It is not just important from the standpoint of the global economy, but also to prevent further human suffering, he told the World Economic Forum in Davos via teleconference on Thursday.

“Millions of lives are being wasted,” Trump claimed, referring to the ongoing hostilities and calling the conflict “horrible.” “I am not talking economy, I am not talking economics, I am not talking about natural resources, I’m just talking about so many young people being killed in this war,” he added. 

The source of the figures used by Trump is unclear. In December, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said Ukraine had suffered almost 1 million battlefield casualties in total since the start of the conflict in February 2022. Kiev has claimed that Moscow had lost over 800,000 troops as of January 15. Neither side has commented on its own losses for a long time.

During his speech, the US president claimed that “a lot of good things” would supposedly happen to America’s “allies and beyond.” He then went on to say that “one thing [that] is very important is [that] I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended.”

His words came just a day after Trump issued a thinly-veiled ultimatum to Moscow by calling on it to end the Ukraine conflict and strike a “deal” or face new sanctions. He maintained that he was “not looking to hurt Russia,” and professed that he loved Russians.