President Trump on Monday sought to distance himself from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as his promise to finish the battle shortly has confirmed troublesome to perform.
“The War between Russia and Ukraine is Biden’s war, not mine. I just got here, and for four years during my term, had no problem in preventing it from happening,” Trump posted on Reality Social. “[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, and everyone else, respected your President!”
Trump additionally blamed President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “allowing this travesty to begin.”
“There were so many ways of preventing it from ever starting. But that is the past. Now we have to get it to STOP, AND FAST,” Trump added.
In feedback to reporters within the Oval Workplace late Monday morning, Trump added Putin to the record of these at fault.
“Biden could have stopped it, and Zelenskyy could have stopped it, and Putin should have never started it,” Trump advised reporters. “Everybody’s to blame.”
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after massing troops on the border. The unprovoked invasion happened almost a decade after Russia took over Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Trump’s publish on Reality Social got here after Zelensky appeared on “60 Minutes” Sunday night time. Zelensky pushed again on a few of the Trump administration’s assertions concerning the battle, and he urged Trump to return go to war-torn Ukraine earlier than making any last selections.
The Biden administration supplied billions of {dollars} in army and monetary help to Ukraine to struggle invading Russian forces. However many outspoken Republicans, together with prime Trump allies, have argued it’s not in the US’s curiosity to proceed to assist Ukraine.
Throughout the 2024 marketing campaign, Trump made repeated lofty guarantees to finish the conflict in Ukraine shortly. Throughout a debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump stated he would get the conflict settled “before I even become president.”
Nevertheless it has confirmed tougher than Trump anticipated to carry the combating to a cease. He has met with Zelensky and spoken with Putin. Trump’s envoy for Center East affairs, Steve Witkoff, met in particular person with Putin in latest days.
Zelensky has stated he accepted the phrases of a ceasefire laid out by Trump administration officers, placing the ball in Russia’s court docket.
Critics have argued Russia is dragging its toes and isn’t fascinated with a ceasefire because it makes good points on the battlefield. Russian strikes killed greater than 30 folks within the Ukrainian metropolis of Sumy on Sunday.
Up to date at 12:04 p.m.
