US president Donald Trump has dismissed Kyiv’s concerns about being left out of US-Russian talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Florida after a US delegation met Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump said Ukraine “should never have started” the war with its neighbour and could previously have made a deal to end it.
Earlier, following 4½ hours of talks in Riyadh, US secretary of state Marco Rubio announced a four-part agreement with Russia to guide the re-establishment of contacts severed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which began Europe’s biggest war in 80 years.
Should the conflict come to an “acceptable end”, he said there would be “incredible opportunities ... to partner with the Russians” on a range of issues of shared interest.
Mr Rubio said the two sides did not establish a date for a summit between Mr Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential end to the war.
Asked during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club if he still expected to meet Mr Putin this month, Mr Trump said “probably”.
He brushed aside Ukraine’s concern about being left out of Tuesday’s meeting, saying Kyiv could have made a deal with Russia three years ago to avert the invasion by Moscow.
“Today I heard, ‘oh, we weren’t invited.’ Well you’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it ... you should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” the US president said.
Sean Savett, who was spokesman for the White House National Security Council under former president Joe Biden, later noted in a social media post that Russia started the war.
“Sounds like Trump bought Putin’s propaganda hook, line, and sinker,” he said. “A reminder no one should need: Putin started the war by invading Ukraine unprovoked and his forces have committed war crimes against the Ukrainian people. Russia is the party responsible for this war continuing.”
Mr Trump criticised the handling of the Ukraine situation by Mr Biden, who provided Kyiv with weapons and defence equipment to use in the fight against the Russian invaders.
“I think I have the power to end this war,” said Mr Trump.
He also said Ukraine should hold elections.
“That’s not a Russia thing, that’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also,” he said.
Mr Trump said he would not oppose European countries sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. EU leaders have discussed the prospect with a view to providing security guarantees in the event of a peace deal.
“Having troops over there would be fine, I wouldn’t object to it at all.”
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov had earlier said the deployment of Nato member troops in Ukraine, even if operating under a different flag, was unacceptable to Moscow. – Agencies
