Media: Trump hails two very good conversations with Putin, Zelenskyy on conflict in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump has described his phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as two very good conversations, aimed at addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

“The one with President Putin was yesterday—that went very well,” Trump shared during an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on March 19 afternoon in the president’s private dining room, just off the Oval Office, Caliber.Az reports.

He continued, “I then spoke with President Zelensky today and explained what took place yesterday, and my aim is to put these two countries together. Then we work a ceasefire and ultimately we stop losing 2,000 people a week. Two thousand people a week or more are being killed in that war, and I want to stop it.”

Trump further emphasised his desire to halt the war’s costly human toll and curb the financial payments that the US has been contributing. "I also want Europe to pay the same as us because they weren’t able to do that under Biden, and Biden never asked that because Biden was a grossly incompetent president," Trump said. He expressed optimism that a deal would be reached to stop the bloodshed, asserting, "We had two very good phone calls and I do believe a deal will be worked out."

The White House readout of Trump’s call with Putin highlighted the two leaders’ discussion of strengthening economic ties between the US and Russia. "The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has huge upside," the readout noted. "This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved."

In a related issue, Breitbart News reported that Russia had taken control of an American-owned company, Glavproduct, a canned food manufacturer owned by US company Universal Beverage. This takeover occurred during the final days of the Biden administration. Leonid Smirnov, CEO of the company, has publicly urged Trump to help resolve the situation as part of broader US-Russia-Ukrainian negotiations to end the war.

Trump, when asked about this issue, said he had not heard of it but was confident that Putin would “be very generous” in resolving the matter. “I haven’t heard about this. Nobody has complained about it to me. But if I heard, I’m sure President Putin would be very generous,” Trump remarked. 

Regarding the broader US-Russia relationship, Trump acknowledged that while splitting Russia from China was not the intended goal of the economic engagements, it could become a natural outcome. "That may be a consequence of it, but no, I think it’s a good thing,” he said.

Trump also emphasised the strategic importance of Russia, citing its vast land and valuable resources. "They have the largest piece of land by far, bigger than China. They have 11 time zones," Trump said. He added that his administration had made significant financial commitments in Ukraine, stating, "We’re in for $350 billion. Biden gave away money like he was just a dope, which he is—a real dope."

By Naila Huseynova