Donald Trump just delivered a stark warning to Vladimir Putin — and it’s raising eyebrows around the world.
Speaking on Fox & Friends, the president hinted that things could get tense fast if Russia’s leader doesn’t play along.
”You never know”
President Donald Trump has met with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in recent days. While Trump himself described the meetings as productive, hopes for a breakthrough peace deal between Russia and Ukraine remain distant.
The two sides still appear far apart, with no indication that Russia’s president plans to end his ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Trump, however, suggested the situation might not be as bleak as some analysts believe.
Speaking on Fox & Friends, Trump said it’s possible Putin doesn’t want to negotiate an end to the war he launched three years ago.
”I think Putin is tired of it,” Trump said. ”I think they’re all tired of it. But you never know. We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks, that I can tell you, and we’re going to see where it all goes. It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal.”
The U.S. is reportedly trying to arrange a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, though so far no one-on-one summit has taken place, and it remains unclear if Putin will agree. Trump reaffirmed his efforts to set up the meeting, sounding cautiously optimistic.
“I hope President Putin is going to be good,” Trump said. ”If he’s not, it’s going to be a rough situation.”
The NATO question
He also stressed that Zelenskyy “has to show some flexibility also,” adding, “We’re 7,000 miles away, you know, in all fairness.”
Another key topic in his talks with Putin likely revolved around Ukraine’s NATO ambitions — a major sticking point for Russia. Trump reiterated his stance that Ukraine should not join the alliance.
”We don’t want them on our border, ” Trump said, reflecting Russia’s perspective on NATO. ”And they were right. They were OK.”
He added that Ukraine ”shouldn’t have asked” for NATO membership.
“They said, put us into NATO. And everybody knew you can’t, you just can’t do that. They would never have agreed to it — this is before Putin,” Trump explained.
Spoke positively about the meeting
”It was just a no-no. It was something that was never going to happen. So they asked for it, and they shouldn’t have asked for it, because it was, you know, very insulting.”
Despite some tough words for Putin, Trump spoke positively about his personal rapport with the Russian leader, recalling their recent meeting in Alaska.
”I maintained a very good relationship. I mean, you saw that when he got off his plane. I got off my plane. There’s a warmth there,” he said. ”It’s a good thing, not a bad thing. People would say, ‘Oh, that’s such a terrible thing.’ Not a terrible thing. You know what? We’ve got the most nuclear weapons in the world, and the most powerful — he’s got second.”
So, what do you think — could Trump’s meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy actually bring peace to Ukraine anytime soon? And was it the right move for Trump to sit down with Russia’s president at all?
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