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Expressing his hopes for the talks, Trump said he would like to see a ceasefire and make sure the best deal is done for both parties.
Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on August 15. (Reuters File Image)
Ahead of his August 15 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, US President Donald Trump said he would know “within the first two minutes” of their meeting whether a deal could be struck, expressing optimism about the prospects for normal trade between the two countries.
Speaking at a White House briefing on Monday, Trump was asked if he saw a time when there could be normal trade between the US and Russia. “I do. Russia has a very valuable piece of land. If Vladimir Putin would go toward business instead of toward war — you know, it’s a warring nation. That’s what they do. They fight a lot of wars. A friend of mine said Russia is tough because they just keep on fighting,” he said.
“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin. And at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” Trump added.
Expressing his hopes for the talks, he said, “I’d like to see a ceasefire. I’d like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties.”
Trump linked Russia’s struggling economy to the ongoing conflict and US sanctions, pointing to the 50 per cent tariff Washington imposed on countries buying Russian oil. “Their economy is not doing well right now because it’s been very well disturbed by this. It doesn’t help when the President of the United States tells their largest or second-largest oil buyer that we’re putting a 50 per cent tariff on you if you buy oil from Russia. That was a big blow,” he said.
He added that he was prepared to take “far bigger” steps before receiving a call from Putin requesting a meeting. “I haven’t stopped there… I got a call that they’d like to meet, and I’m going to see what they want to meet about,” he said.
Calling the meeting a “big deal,” Trump noted, “I’ll be calling the European leaders. They’re tired of it (the Russia-Ukraine war). They want to get back to spending money on their countries… They want it resolved.” He said European leaders relied on him heavily and claimed, “If it weren’t for me, this thing would never get solved until the last person breathing is dead… I’d like to see a ceasefire very, very quickly. I’d like to see it immediately.”
Turning to the Ukraine conflict, Trump asserted, “This war wouldn’t have happened if I were president. This is Joe Biden’s war. This is not my war.” He added that he plans to tell Putin directly, “You’ve got to end this war. And he wasn’t going to mess with me.”
Trump also outlined his intention for follow-up talks. “The next meeting will be with Zelensky and Putin, or Zelensky and Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need me, but I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders,” he said.
Explaining his sequence of diplomacy, Trump said he wanted to meet Putin first to understand the parameters of a possible peace deal before engaging with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. “I’m going to meet with President Putin and we’re going to see what he has in mind, and if it’s a fair deal I’ll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to the NATO leaders and also to President Zelensky,” he said, adding that he would call Zelensky first “out of respect.”
Covering day-to-day national and international news for the last nine years across print and digital. Associated with News18.com as Chief Sub-Editor since 2022, covering innumerable big and small events, includ…Read More
Covering day-to-day national and international news for the last nine years across print and digital. Associated with News18.com as Chief Sub-Editor since 2022, covering innumerable big and small events, includ… Read More
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