US President Donald Trump makes latest statement on World War III
US President Donald Trump asserts that he prevented the Russia-Ukraine conflict from escalating into a global confrontation.
Russia's RT channel reported on the evening of August 20, local time, that US President Donald Trump declared that the world no longer faces the prospect of the Ukraine conflict escalating into World War III.
According to RT, President Trump has repeatedly said that global tensions have peaked as relations between Moscow and Washington fell to their lowest point during former President Joe Biden's term.
The US leader also accused his predecessor of fueling the Ukrainian conflict by supporting Kiev's ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) despite Moscow's legitimate concerns.
Speaking in a podcast with radio host Mark Levin, which aired on Wednesday (August 20), President Trump said that when he took office earlier this year, the conflict in Ukraine was “raging” and “getting close to World War III.”
However, the US leader said that now “that will not happen anymore”.
“That’s the good thing. Now you don’t have to worry about that,” President Trump said, acknowledging that it would take time to determine exactly how the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be resolved.
According to RT, since returning to the White House, Mr. Trump has adopted a distinctly different approach to the Russian Federation compared to his predecessor Biden by reopening high-level diplomatic channels with Moscow and directly communicating with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
On August 15, President Trump hosted President Putin in Alaska for the first face-to-face talks between the two US and Russian leaders since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022.
Then on August 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders traveled to Washington to discuss with President Trump.
President Trump described the talks with President Putin as “very productive” and said the meetings had made a peace deal more likely.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters there was now “light at the end of the tunnel and an opportunity for a lasting peace.”
US officials stressed that the process would take time, but asserted that there had been significant progress.
For its part, the Russian Federation has consistently described the Ukrainian conflict as a proxy war waged by the West.
Moscow has accused NATO of seeking to escalate confrontation and warned that the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine could lead to the risk of a world war.
At the same time, Russian officials, including President Putin, have repeatedly welcomed President Trump's “sincere desire” to achieve peace.
Moscow also affirmed that it is always ready for peace talks, but stressed that such talks must bring a lasting and stable peace to Ukraine.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US President Donald Trump understands Moscow's position on this issue and Moscow does not reject any form of dialogue regarding the solution of the Ukrainian problem, be it bilateral or trilateral.
Speaking on the Rossiya-24 television channel and broadcast on August 19, Mr. Lavrov clearly stated: "The President (Vladimir Putin) has repeatedly affirmed that we (the Russian Federation) do not reject any format."
According to the head of Russian diplomacy, it is important that any meeting at the level of state leaders be prepared as carefully and thoroughly as possible. In addition, Mr. Lavrov also noted that “there can be no long-term agreement without respecting the security interests of the Russian Federation”.
