LOC09:21
06:21 GMT
WASHINGTON, May 20 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump expressed, on Monday, readiness to step back from his ongoing efforts to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war should negotiations between Moscow and Kiev fail to show positive progress.
This came during a White House event with law enforcement agencies, Trump responded to a journalist's question following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump later posted on Truth Social that Russia and Ukraine were set to begin "immediate" ceasefire talks.
"I think something's going to happen. It's a very, very big egos involved. I tell you, big egos involved, but I think something's going to happen. And if it doesn't, I just back away and they're going to have to keep going again," Trump said.
He reiterated his belief that Putin "wants to end" the conflict with Ukraine, noting that he had also discussed the issue with leaders of Germany, Finland, Italy, the UK, and two other countries, in addition to extensive talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"It's a big, big problem. It's a it's a terrible war. It's a very hard to extradite themselves away from what's taken place over there... it's very hard, very tough situation," Trump remarked.
Trump indicated there is now "a good chance" for achieving a ceasefire, stating: "I believe Putin wants to do it... if I thought that President Putin did not want to get this over with, I wouldn't, I wouldn't even be talking about it."
When asked if there was a red line that would lead him to abandon his efforts to end the conflict, Trump confirmed: "In my head, but not something I'm going to announce, but yeah, definitely in my head, I do, yeah, because this is in our war. This is not my war. This is not the war."
He added, "We got ourselves entangled in something that we shouldn't have been involved in, and we would have been a lot better off, and maybe the whole thing would have been better off, because it can't be much worse. It's a real mess. It's a death trap."
Trump said that he does have a certain line but doesn't "want to say what the line is" because he believes that it would just make "the negotiation even more difficult than it is."
Regarding the absence of new US sanctions on Russia, Trump said," "Because I think there's a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you can also make it much worse. But there could be a time where that's going to happen."
When asked whether Ukraine is doing enough to reach a peace agreement, Trump replied, "I'd rather tell you in about two weeks from now, because I can't say yes or no."
He described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "a strong person," adding that "he's not the easiest person to deal with, but I think that he wants to stop."
"I think he (Zelenskyy) wants to stop. But I could answer that question better in two weeks or four weeks from now. I hope the answer is that he wants to get it solved," Trump said.
Earlier on Monday, Trump confirmed that he had a two-hour phone call with Putin, and in a Truth Social post, he wrote, "I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War." (end)
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