Putin says full-scale war against Ukraine might not have happened if Trump’s ‘2020 victory hadn’t been stolen’
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the full-scale war in Ukraine might not have occurred if Donald Trump had been president in 2022. In an interview with Rossiya TV correspondent Pavel Zarubin, Putin commented on Trump’s recent calls for negotiations to end the conflict.
“Russia has never refused contact with the U.S. administration. It wasn’t our fault that the previous administration refused those contacts. I’ve always had professional, yet pragmatic, and, I would say, trusting relations with the current U.S. president,” Putin said. “And I can’t disagree with [Trump] when he says that if he had been president, if his 2020 victory hadn’t been stolen, perhaps the crisis in Ukraine that began in 2022 wouldn’t have happened.”
Putin went on to say that it would be better for presidents “to meet based on the realities of today and calmly discuss all the issues of mutual interest to the U.S. and Russia.”
“We’re ready,” Putin said, adding that such a meeting ultimately depends on “the decisions and choices of the current U.S. administration.”
Addressing the possibility of negotiations on Ukraine, Putin said Russia remains open to talks but suggested that Kyiv’s government might reject them, citing a decree issued by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky banning negotiations with Russia.
“The current head of the Kyiv regime, when he was still somewhat legitimate, issued a decree banning negotiations. So how can talks resume now if they’re officially prohibited? […] If negotiations begin under the current legal framework, they would technically be illegitimate, which means the results of those talks would also need to be declared illegitimate,” Putin said.
