‘I still have half a day’ to settle Ukraine conflict – Trump
New US President Donald Trump said he still had “half a day” to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict after he was reminded about his earlier promise to end the fighting within 24 hours of his return to the White House.
Midway through his inauguration day on Monday, journalists asked Trump whether he would be able to keep the promise that he repeatedly made during the campaign.
“Well, it’s only half a day. I have another half a day left. We will see,” he joked, sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office.
The US president reiterated his willingness to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin with a view to finding a diplomatic settlement of the crisis.
“We are going to try and get it done as quickly as possible. You know, the war with Ukraine and Russia should have never started,” he said.
Trump added that he “got along with [Putin] great” during his first term. “I would hope he wants to make a deal,” he remarked.
His pick for US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said on Monday that he could not say when the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev would end, but said each side would have to concede “something” in order to resolve the conflict.
Putin welcomed Trump’s intention to resume dialogue between Russia and the US, as he congratulated the US president on his inauguration.
The Russian authorities have noted statements by the new US leader and his associates “about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia,” which were halted by the previous administration, and “about the need to do everything to prevent world war three,” Putin said.
Moscow remains committed to its principles and believes that dialogue must be built upon an “equal and mutually respectful basis,” he added.
