Putin Says He Takes Trump's Comments on Ending Ukraine War 'Seriously'

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Facts

  • Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he believes that Donald Trump's comments about ending the war in Ukraine are sincere and that he takes them seriously — though he added he wasn't sure how the Republican candidate for US president planned to go about it.1
  • Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, Putin said: 'The fact that Mr. Trump, as a presidential candidate, declares that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take this completely seriously.'1
  • 'I am not, of course, familiar with possible proposals for how he plans to do this. This is the key question. But I have no doubt that he means it sincerely, and we support it,' Putin added.1
  • The remarks came after last week's presidential debate in which Trump said Ukrainians 'are being killed so needlessly, so stupidly' — claiming that 'I will have that war settled between Putin and [Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr] Zelenskyy as president-elect before I take office as president on Jan. 20.'2
  • Although Trump said Putin's plan of holding onto four Ukrainian regions that Russia has claimed to have annexed in the war is unacceptable, the comments were met with distrust by Zelenskyy.3
  • 'If Trump knows how to end this war he should tell us today,' Zelenskyy said. 'Because if there are risks to Ukraine's independence, if there are risks that we lose statehood, we want to be prepared for this.'3

Sources: 1Reuters, 2POLITICO (a) and 3POLITICO (b).

Narratives

  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Reuters. Russia has sincere aspirations of finding a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine conflict. As such, comments from Trump — expected to be the next president of the US — will be carefully considered and taken seriously if he puts forward meaningful ideas for bringing the war to a close.
  • Pro-Ukraine narrative, as provided by POLITICO. If Trump has a plan for ending the war, this needs to be shared with Ukraine — particularly as the future of the country's livelihood and sovereignty are at stake.

Predictions