Putin has backed Trump’s claim that there would have been no war in Ukraine had he been in office in 2022. He made the remarks in a joint press conference following the historic Alaska summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday took a veiled dig at former US President Joe Biden and said that the war in Ukraine would have never begun had Trump been in the White House in 2022.
He made the remarks during a joint press conference with Trump following the conclusion of their history Alaska summit.
Without taking any name, the Russian leader said he had tried a lot to convince Biden to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate, criticising the former US President’s approach to the Ukraine war.
“Today, when President Trump says had he been the President back then, there would have been no war, and I am quite sure it would indeed be so,” Putin.
“In 2022 during the last contact with the previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague that the situation should not be brought to the point of no return when it comes to hostilities. I said it directly back then that it is a big mistake.”
Trump on multiple occasions have claimed that there would have been no Ukraine war had he been in office instead of Biden. But since he returned to power, Trump has been pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine, where Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On Friday, the two leaders also held a marathon 2.5-hour meeting in Alaska, discussing ways to end the war in Ukraine. Notably, this was the first in-person meeting between the presidents of the US and Russia since 2021 when Putin met Biden in Geneva.
Although Putin and Trump failed to reach to a deal in Alaska, the two leaders said their summit was ‘productive’. Following the meeting, Trump said he would like to hold a second meeting with Putin, to which the Russian leader proposed that the next summit should be held in Moscow.ย ย
ย