Former US president says he would end Ukraine conflict before January
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed admiration for the Russian military’s combat capabilities and vowed to end the conflict in Ukraine before the end of the year if elected.
Trump addressed the Russia-Ukraine conflict as part of an hour-long interview released Monday. Billed as “unfiltered stories of heroic events and current world issues,” The show is hosted by former US Navy SEAL and CIA contractor Shawn Ryan.
“Russia is a great winter fighter”, Trump told Ryan. “They beat Germany and they beat Napoleon. They are not easy to beat. And they are a huge army, and Ukraine is not. But Ukraine made us give them a lot of money.”
The United States and its allies have funneled more than $400 billion in aid to Kyiv since the conflict began in 2022, including more than $120 billion in direct military aid, according to estimates by the Kiel Institute, a German think tank that tracks contributions.
Without going into details, Trump opposed accounting for most US military aid, arguing that European NATO members needed “equalize” your contribution.
“This war is much more devastating than people imagine,” Trump said in the interview. He also promised to have it “settled” as president-elect and not wait for the inauguration in January.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the conflict would not have started if he had remained in the White House, rather than being replaced by Joe Biden in 2021. He has also said he would end the fighting within 24 hours.
Shawn Ryan’s show wasn’t the first time Trump praised Russia “war machine” too. He first raised the issue during a public debate on Fox News in February, and again in July, recounting a phone call with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
Asked by Ryan how much he would spend the $175 billion that the US Congress allocated for aid to Ukraine, Trump highlighted that the US has more than $30 trillion in national debt.
The former president also lamented the fact that the Pentagon had managed to empty the stockpile he worked so hard to replenish during his term.
“These guys gave everything to Ukraine,” Trump told Ryan. “Now we have no ammunition again.”