WASHINGTON ( WNAM MONITORING ): There is a “really good chance” of achieving a deal between Russia and Ukraine, US President Donald Trump said on Friday.
“We are going to see if we can get it done. I think we have a really good chance of getting it done, and it’s coming to a head right now,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump reiterated that the more than three-year-old war would have never happened if he were president.
“A lot of people are being killed as we talk … We’re not going to take that end … We’ll see. I think we have a good chance of solving the problem,” he said.
Asked whether he thinks Russia is “playing” him, Trump said: “No, nobody’s playing me. I’m trying to help.”
‘We’re going to just take a pass’
“We’re going to get it stopped, ideally. Now, if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say ‘you’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people and we’re just going to take a pass.’ But hopefully we won’t have to do that,” he said.
On whether he is “prepared to walk away completely” from these efforts, Trump said he did not want to say he was walking away from the talks, adding: “We want to see it end.”
The US, since the inauguration of Trump, has been actively involved in diplomatic efforts to end the war, engaging in talks with both Ukraine and Russia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, joined by envoys Keith Kellogg and Steve Witkoff, held talks with top European and Ukrainian officials on Thursday in Paris to discuss ways to end the conflict.
He has warned that Washington would not pursue the Ukraine talks if there was not a breakthrough soon.
