Trump says he will speak to Putin soon to help settle Ukraine War

Washington: US President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to speak soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to help settle the ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump’s comments came a day after Putin indicated Russia’s readiness for talks with the U.S. on a range of issues.

“He wants to speak and will be speaking soon. I've spoken to President Zelensky numerous times, and they'd like to see peace. They would like to see an end to the war. I think President Putin would like to see an end to the war too,” Trump told reporters on Saturday.

He added, “I think it's a shame it's a war that would have never happened,” reiterating his stance that the conflict would not have started had he been in office.

On Friday, Putin said he was open to discussions about the war with Trump and suggested the two leaders should meet. “We believe the current president's statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations,” Putin told a Russian state TV journalist.

Trump also discussed his potential first international trip, mentioning Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom as possible destinations. “It could be Saudi Arabia, it could be the UK. Traditionally, it’s been the UK. Last time I went to Saudi Arabia because they agreed to buy USD 450 billion worth of United States merchandise, including a lot of military, farm, and other equipment,” he said.

Trump confirmed a scheduled call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, praising him as a “very good person” despite their political differences. “I get along with him, well, I like him a lot. He's liberal, which is a little bit different for me, but I think he's a very good person. He has done a very good job thus far,” Trump said.

In his discussions with the Saudi crown prince, Trump said he focused on the issue of oil prices. He blamed his predecessor, President Joe Biden, for allowing oil prices to rise and suggested that lower oil prices could help bring an end to the war in Ukraine. “I discussed getting oil prices down because if you get oil prices down, Russia will stop the war,” Trump said. “Biden should have never allowed him to go up so high. When Biden let them go up to that level, he was just inducing Russia, which sells oil, to go into a war.” PTI