President Donald Trump sounded a positive note in an early-morning social media post following his high stakes summit on Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump and his administration have been working since before he took office in January to end the more than three-year-old war between Russia and Ukraine, but have not been able to produce any results.
However, that may soon change if Trump’s post is any indication.
“A great and very successful day in Alaska! The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO,” Trump wrote.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he noted.
“President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved,” Trump concluded, adding his trademark sign-off: “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
At a joint press conference earlier Friday at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base, Putin echoed Trump’s assertion that the war in Ukraine would never have started had Trump won the 2020 election and been in office when the conflict erupted, rather than former President Joe Biden.
“I can confirm that,” Putin said.
Trump repeatedly made the claim throughout his campaign and has continued to do so since returning to the White House. He has faced criticism not only for that assertion but also for suggesting that Ukraine provoked the war’s outbreak and that the Biden administration failed to take steps that might have prevented it.
“I’d like to add one more thing,” Putin said, according to a translation of the Russian president’s address. “I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during the last contact with a previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague that the situation should not be brought to a point of no return when it would come to hostilities and I said it quite directly back then that it’s a big mistake.
“Today, when President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then there would be no war – I am quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that,” Putin added.
Earlier in his remarks, Putin lamented that U.S.-Russia relations before Trump had “fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War,” noting that no bilateral summits had taken place between the two countries over the past four years.
“That’s not benefiting our counties and the world as a whole,” Putin said, adding that it was “apparent that sooner or later [U.S. and Russia] had to amend the situation to move on from the confrontation to dialogue.”
Meanwhile, the Russian leader praised Trump for “his strive to get to the crux of the matter and to understand this history,” referring to the backstory regarding the war. He then described the commitment “precious.”
Putin also said during his address that it’s his hope the new chapter of foreign diplomacy under Trump will “help us rebuild and foster mutually beneficial and equal ties at this new stage, even during the hardest conditions.”
“Overall, me and President Trump have built a very good business-like and trustworthy contact, and have every reason to believe that moving down this path we can come to the end of the conflict in Ukraine,” Putin said.
