Former President Trump: Many people expect Kiev to give up Crimea in exchange for peace
(Baonghean.vn) - Former US President Donald Trump said Ukraine could have avoided hundreds of thousands of deaths and lost less land if it had reached a peace agreement with Russia before the conflict broke out in February last year.
In an interview with NBC News broadcast on September 17, Mr. Trump stated that Ukraine's loss of territory to Russia was "something that could have been negotiated," and emphasized that "a lot of people expected" Kiev to give up its territorial claims to "Crimea and other parts of the country" in exchange for peace.
“So they could have made a deal where there was less territory (lost) than Russia has taken,” the former US president argued. “Ukraine could have made a deal where nobody died… they would have a country. Now no one even knows if Ukraine was completely taken over.”
Mr Trump reiterated his view that if elected president next year, he would reach a peace deal within 24 hours. He noted: “It would be easier if there was no war and, most importantly, hundreds of thousands of people living... But I can get it done and I can get it done quickly.”
Mr Trump added that he had stopped Ukraine and Russia “from doing anything” during his presidency, arguing that low oil prices – a hallmark of his time in the White House – would make it too costly for Russia, the top oil exporter, to fund a military campaign.
Mr. Trump’s views on Ukraine are in stark contrast to those of President Joe Biden, who has vowed to fund Ukraine’s military “for as long as necessary” to defeat Russia on the battlefield. With the exception of businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, all of Mr. Trump’s Republican opponents support some form of continued military aid to Ukraine, including former Vice President Mike Pence.
In an interview with CNN on September 17, Mr. Pence accused former President Trump of “pursuing a policy of appeasement” and “letting Putin get what he wanted”./.