‘Let Both Claim Victory!’ Trump Urges Ukraine and Russia to ‘Make a DEAL!’ with Current Border Lines
(Sergey Bobylev / Sputnik via AP) (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social account after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday afternoon that he wanted Ukraine and Russia to “both claim Victory” and “make a DEAL!” to end the war with the current border lines.
The comment by Trump was a reversal from his position less than a month ago, when he called Russia a “paper tiger” and said that he believed Ukraine should be able to get all of its land back from Russia.
The president’s previously strong stance against Russia surprised Zelensky and other supporters of Ukraine, and won praise from some of Trump’s harshest critics.
When Zelensky met with Trump at the United Nations in late September, he reportedly asked for Tomahawk missiles, which would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory, arguing that this expanded military capability would help force Russia President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
This week, however, Trump reversed course after a phone call with Putin on Thursday, reportedly backing down from the plan to provide Tomahawks or other longer range weapons and announcing an upcoming in-person meeting between the two in Budapest, Hungary.
Friday, Trump met with Zelensky at the White House, and posted on Truth Social after the conclusion of their conversation.
Wrote Trump:
The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL! Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent. This is a War that would have never started if I were President. Thousands of people being slaughtered each and every week — NO MORE, GO HOME TO YOUR FAMILIES IN PEACE!
