Trump suggests Ukraine 'should never have started' war with Russia

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that Ukraine was responsible for Russia's full-scale invasion of the country almost three years ago, reported German news agency (dpa).

The full-scale invasion in Ukraine began in February 2022 when Russian military forces entered the country from Belarus, Russia and Crimea.

Trump made the comments as the US and Russian foreign ministers spoke in Riyadh about mending ties and ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump responded to criticism from Ukraine that the country had not been invited to the meeting.

"But today I heard, 'Oh, well, we weren't invited'. Well, you've been there for three years," Trump said. "You should never have started it. You could have made a deal."

Trump, who returned to the White House less than a month ago, suggested that, had he been in power when the war started, he could have made a deal that would have given Ukraine "almost all of the land and no people would have been killed and no city would have been demolished", he said.

"I want to see peace. I don't want all these people killed anymore."

Trump added that elections were necessary in Ukraine, a call Russia has also made.

"That's not a Russia thing. That's something coming from me and coming from many other countries also," Trump said.

Russia maintains that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's term of office expired in May and that Ukraine must, therefore, hold elections. According to Kyiv, Zelensky's powers remain in force under Ukraine's current martial law.

Ukraine last held a presidential election in 2019. - BERNAMA-dpa