Trump suggested that sanctions against Russia could be intensified if the country refuses to engage in negotiations with Ukraine.

He stated this during his press conference at the White House.

Trump once again emphasized that this war would never have started if he were president, blaming former White House leader Joe Biden for incompetence. Trump added that he had a “strong agreement with Putin”.

In addition, the U.S. president declared that he is ready to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky whenever “they want”.

“We are working on this. We are in contact with Zelensky and will soon talk to Putin. Let’s see how everything unfolds,” the Republican stated.

Trump again accused European countries of insufficient funding for NATO and urged them to increase their contributions to the Alliance. According to him, Europe should be more interested in this than the U.S.: “This concerns them more than us. We have an ocean between us, right? This little thing called ‘ocean’”.