Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported the claim made by President Donald Trump that the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented if Trump had been in office in 2022.
What Happened: During an interview with Russian state television on Friday, Putin lauded Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who prioritized U.S. interests.
Putin expressed his agreement with Trump’s viewpoint, stating, “I couldn’t disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn’t stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided.”
“We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current U.S. president,” The New York Post quoted Putin saying.
This statement marks Putin’s most explicit endorsement of Trump’s refusal to accept his loss in the 2020 election. Trump has consistently maintained that the conflict would not have erupted had he been in office.
Also Read: Trump on Assad’s Fall: Putin ‘Was Not Interested In Protecting Him Any Longer’
Putin also expressed his willingness to engage in discussions with the U.S. on a variety of topics, including nuclear arms control and economic issues.
He criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia during Trump’s first term and under the administration of former President Joe Biden, claiming that they had negatively impacted U.S. interests and weakened the dollar’s role in the global financial system.
“How is it possible to conduct talks if they are banned?” Putin said. “If the talks start in the existing legal framework, they would be illegitimate and the results of those talks could also be declared illegitimate.”
In response to Trump’s recent remarks that the OPEC+ alliance is partly responsible for the conflict in Ukraine due to high oil prices, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s stance that the conflict was instigated by the West’s refusal to consider Russian security interests, and not related to oil prices.
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