The president-elect has accused the outgoing US leader of “gross incompetence” in handling the crisis
US President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very quickly” after being sworn in on January 20.
During an interview on Monday, Newsmax host Rob Schmitt asked Trump about his strategy to end the Ukraine conflict, to which Trump said “there is only one strategy, and it’s up to Putin.”
He added: “I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled with the way it’s gone, because it hasn’t gone exactly well for him either.”
“I know he [Putin] wants to meet, and I’m going to meet very quickly,” the incoming US leader said. “I would have done it sooner, but … you have to get into the office.”
During his campaign, Trump promised to end the Ukraine conflict and multibillion-dollar US funding of the government in Kiev. He claimed he could stop the hostilities “in 24 hours” by making several phone calls.
Since his election as president, Trump and members of his transition team have moderated expectations, acknowledging that a resolution will probably take several months at least.
In the interview with Newsmax, Trump blamed the outgoing President Joe Biden for allowing the conflict to escalate on his watch. The fighting has had devastating consequences for both Ukraine and Russia, he said.
”This was gross incompetence. That’s the only reason this war has taken place,” he stated.
Biden, speaking at the Department of State on Monday, defended his handling of the crisis, claiming it was one of his administration’s foreign policy achievements.
”I had two jobs – one to rally the world to defend Ukraine, and the other is to avoid war between two nuclear powers. We did both those things,” he said.
”Ukraine is still free, independent country, with a potential, a potential for a bright future,” Biden said, adding that it was up to the Trump administration to “protect the bright future of the Ukrainian people”.
The Kremlin has responded positively to Trump’s declared intention to engage with Russia, but stressed that the Ukraine conflict needs to be resolved in a way that addresses its core causes. Those, according to Moscow, include NATO’s expansion in Europe and Ukraine’s discrimination against its ethnic Russian citizens.
Russian officials have accused the Biden administration of intentionally escalating tensions to justify a proxy war against their country, which is how the conflict is viewed in Moscow.
