President Donald Trump pushed back on suggestions from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States could capture Russian President Vladimir Putin after Zelensky pointed to Washington's recent action against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump waved off the idea of such an operation, while venting frustration over the grinding war and his failure so far to bring it to an end. Trump has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he could end the war on his first day back in office, but despite meetings with both Zelenskyy and Putin, a resolution remains elusive.
"Well, I don't think it's going to be necessary," Trump said in response to a question from Fox News' Peter Doocy during a meeting with US oil companies executives at the White House Friday.
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"I've always had a great relationship with him. I'm very disappointed," Trump said of Putin. "I settled eight wars. I thought this would be in the middle of the pack, or maybe one of the easier ones."
Trump said the conflict continues to take a heavy toll, particularly on Russian forces, and claimed Moscow's economy is suffering as well.
"And in the last month they lost 31,000 people, many of them Russian soldiers," Trump said, adding that the Russian economy is "doing poorly."
"I think we're going to end up getting it settled," Trump said. "I wish we could have done it quicker because a lot of people are dying."
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"But largely it's the soldier population," he continued. "When you have 30,000, 31,000 soldiers dying in a period of a month, 27,000 the month before, 26,000 the month before that. That's bad stuff."
Trump also criticized the Biden administration for sending what he said was $350 billion to Ukraine, arguing the U.S. should be able to recoup costs through a rare earth minerals agreement tied to continued support. He also claimed the U.S. is not losing money in the conflict, saying Washington is benefiting through arms sales to NATO allies, and pointed to NATO's pledge to raise defense and security spending toward 5% of GDP by 2035, up from the longstanding 2% benchmark.
"We're not losing any money. We're making a lot of money."
Zelenskyy's comments came after Russia said it fired its new nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile as part of a massive overnight attack on Ukraine, a claim Kyiv disputed. Ukrainian officials said the barrage involved hundreds of drones and multiple missiles and struck energy facilities and civilian infrastructure, killing at least four people.
Zelenskyy called on the United States and the international community to respond, saying Russia must face consequences for attacks targeting ordinary civilians.
Fox News' Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
