Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday boasted of his close relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, arguing that the Ukraine crisis would not have happened under his administration.
“If handled properly, there was absolutely no reason why the situation that is currently occurring in Ukraine would have occurred.”the Republican mogul said in a statement.
“I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would never have done during the Trump administration what he is doing now, no way!”he underlined.
He also indicated that what happens between the United States and Ukraine in their tension with Russia is because “what went wrong is a candidate who should not be there and a man who has no idea what he is doing.”
For his part, Trump praised the Russian president, explaining that what he does is “great.”
“This is great (…). Putin declares a large part of Ukraine independent, that’s wonderful. So Putin now says: ‘he is independent’, a large part of Ukraine, ”said the former president.
In this sense, Donald Trump continued to praise Putin and finally concluded with a great criticism of Joe Biden.
“Here’s a guy who says, you know, ‘I’m going to declare a large part of Ukraine independent’, he used the word ‘independent’, ‘and we’re going to get them out and we’re going to get in and us’ (…). You have to say that’s pretty smart. And do you know what Biden’s response was? There was no response,” concluded the former US president.
Russia is facing a strong international backlash after Putin recognized two pro-Russian breakaway enclaves in eastern Ukraine as independent states and the Russian Senate paved the way for him to send troops to protect those regions.
Democratic President Joe Biden, who imposed economic punishments on the two enclaves on Monday, expanded those measures, announcing sanctions on Tuesday that will cut off Russia from Western funding and hit “Russian elites” as well as financial institutions. .
But Trump, which had been silent on the escalation of the Russian threat to the US allypreviously criticized the Biden administration’s “weak” response that he said did not match Russia’s actions.
“Now it has started, oil prices are getting higher and higher, and Putin is not only getting what he always wanted, but because of rising oil and gas, he is getting richer and richer,” he added.
Former White House Russia adviser Fiona Hill told CNN on Sunday that Trump’s foreign policy had emboldened Putin for these actions.
After a quick discussion, the Federation Council unanimously approved by 153 votes the request presented shortly before by Putin.
However, the eventual entry of the Russian army into Ukrainian territory in support of the pro-Russian separatists will depend on the situation “on the ground”, President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday.
“I have not said that our soldiers are going to go there, now (…). That will depend, as they say, on the situation on the ground.” Putin declared at a surprise press conference, broadcast on television.
In addition, Putin called for the “demilitarization” of Ukraine and recognized the sovereignty of the pro-Russian east of that country.
I also affirm that the “best solution” to resolve the crisis around Ukraine would be for this country to renounce its desire to join NATO.
“The best solution … would be for the authorities currently in power in Kiev to refuse to join NATO themselves and remain neutral,” declared the Russian president.
For his part, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, warned that Russia continues to make military preparations to launch a “large-scale” attack against Ukraine.
“Everything indicates that Russia continues to plan a large-scale attack against Ukraine…. We see that more and more forces are moving out of the camps and are in combat formations and ready to attack,” Stoltenberg said.
Asked about the possibility of open conflict with Russia, Stoltenberg said there was “a real risk. This is exactly what we have been warning about for months. And sadly in the last few months it’s exactly what we predicted would happen.”
The NATO chief considered that It is “still possible” that Russia will “change course” and halt its “military force build-up”.
In Stoltenberg’s view, the Russian decision to recognize two breakaway regions of Ukraine as independent states ends up “adding fuel” to the flames.