Trump says his actions stopped Ukraine and Russia from starting World War III

“I think if we didn't come, Ukraine and Russia ended up being a world war, and I stopped that. That stopped,” Trump said.

However, according to him, the main question now remains when exactly it will be resolved.

“It could be very soon,” the US President stated.

Russia’s war against Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, carrying out massive missile and air strikes on cities and critical infrastructure across the country.

At the same time, Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s borders from the territory of Russia, Belarus, and the temporarily occupied Crimea. This attack became the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II and violated the fundamental principles of international law.

Trump’s statements

During his election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to end the war in Ukraine.

In particular, on February 11 of this year, Trump stated that he would probably meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin by the end of the month. He then began making pro-Russian statements and essentially blamed Ukraine’s leadership for starting the war.

Later, Trump claimed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a dictator without elections, saying that in three years of war, he had done nothing to bring it to an end.

Some time after that, Trump stated that Russia was to blame for the war but also shifted responsibility onto Zelenskyy and former US President Joe Biden. In his view, Putin wants to make a peace deal, but added that he should not make a deal because he could take over all of Ukraine.

However, last month, Trump drastically changed his rhetoric toward Russia. In particular, he harshly criticized Putin for the massive shelling of Ukraine and gave the dictator 50 days to reach peace with Kyiv. He later shortened the deadline to August 8.

Today, Trump announced his meeting with Putin but refused to disclose any details.