«You had three years to make a deal» — Trump responds to Ukraine's absence at meeting in Saudi Arabia

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP Photo

Commenting on Ukraine's absence from the meeting in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump said that it «should not have started» the war, and that peace could have been negotiated in three years.

This statement he made during a press conference at his residence in Mar-a-Lago.

«Russia wants to do something. They want to stop this savagery. I mean what is happening there. Its soldiers are being killed by the thousands every week,» Donald Trump said.

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At the same time, according to the US president, Ukraine could have prevented the war by concluding a deal with Russia.

«I heard today: «Oh, we were not invited». Well, you had three years. You should not have started this. You could have made a deal,» Trump said.

He noted that if he had been president in 2022, he could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have returned almost all of the land to Kyiv's control «and «and not a single city would have been destroyed».

In addition, he accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of incompetence.

«Look, you have a leader, and I personally like him. He's fine. But personally, I don't care. I care about getting the job done. Now you have a leadership that has allowed the war to continue, which should not even have happened, even without the United States,» the US president said.

As a reminder, Russian-American talks ended in Riyadh on 18 February. The parties agreed on a three-stage peace plan for Ukraine. Ukraine was not involved in the meeting.

On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would postpone his visit to Saudi Arabia because of the talks between Russia and the United States in Riyadh.

Peace talks

Earlier, Donald Trump stated that the United States was conducting constructive negotiations on a full-scale war with Ukraine and the Russian Federation. In particular, he expressed hope that agreements would be reached as soon as possible.

He also claimed that Washington had already made some progress in negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In addition, Donald Trump indicated that his administration had already held discussions with Moscow, but did not specify who participated in such a dialogue. Also, during his phone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump never said that Europe needs a seat at the table in negotiations on Ukraine.

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that negotiations between the United States and Russia to end the war without Kyiv's participation pose a threat to everyone.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that he was ready to sit down with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for the sake of peace, despite his hostile attitude. He also added that he did not see a ready-made peace plan from Trump, but conveyed his readiness to negotiate.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to «allocate people» to negotiate with Ukraine to end the war. At the same time, he called any such talks «illegitimate».

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine does not recognise the loss of its territories, but is ready for diplomatic solutions to return them if it becomes a NATO member.