While hosting a group of Indian-American members of his administration and CEOs to celebrate the Indian festival of Diwali in the Oval Office, Trump addressed the current state of peace talks on Ukraine.
“I don’t want a wasted meeting, I don’t want a waste of time,” he told press yesterday, as seen in a Times of India video. The comments come after a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The U.S. president has emphasized that he has offered both sides to stop fighting along the current front line and “take some time off.
“You got two countries that are killing each other. Two countries are losing 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers a week,” he said, reiterating that for now talks between himself and Russian President Putin in Budapest have been put on hold.
“We’ll be notifying you over the next two days as to what we’re doing. But a lot of things are happening. I think we’re gonna get it solved,” the president said.
“I think Putin wants it to end, and I think Zelensky wants it to end, and I think it’s going to end,” he added.
Zelensky was quick to point out that Putin appeared to lose interest in talks once the idea of sending Tomahawks to Ukraine was off the table.
“Russia is again doing everything to escape diplomacy. And as soon as the issue of long-range weapons for us, for Ukraine, became a little more distant, almost automatically Russia lost interest in talks. This is a signal that this particular topic – the issue of long-range weapons – can be a necessary key to peace,” Zelensky said, as quoted by Do Rzeczy.
Meanwhile, the Indian portal Mint is reporting that India may start cutting its imports of Russian oil in exchange for a dramatic reduction in U.S. tariffs on its exports, from 50 percent to as low as 15 percent.
Having just spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump, noted his “very good relationship” with the prime minister and adding that “he wants to see the war end as much as I do.”
“He’s not gonna buy much oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters.
