President Trump has renewed his criticism of his predecessor, Joe Biden, blaming him for the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
Donald Trump has asserted that the Ukraine conflict risked spiraling into a third World War under Joe Biden’s leadership.
Trump has consistently argued that global tensions were at their highest during Biden’s term, when US-Russia relations deteriorated significantly. Since returning to office in January, Trump claims to have restored diplomatic ties with Russia, which had been severed following the conflict’s intensification in 2022.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump stated that his administration’s actions prevented the Ukraine conflict from “ending up being a world war.”
“We’ve brought it down a long way, but when I first came in, I thought, ‘Wow, this thing is really bad,’” Trump added. “Now the only question is, when is it going to be settled? And it could be very soon,” he commented.
The president reiterated his description of the conflict as “Biden’s war” and criticized what he views as the previous administration’s extensive military aid to Kiev. He estimated that “Through Biden and his people, we’re probably in for $350 billion.”
Trump has previously suggested plans to recover these funds through a minerals agreement with Kiev, which was finalized earlier this year. However, analysts point out that much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth is located in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, regions that voted to become part of Russia in 2022.
Russia has characterized the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war instigated by NATO and has consistently condemned Western military support for Kiev. The Kremlin maintains that NATO’s eastward expansion and Ukraine’s aspirations to join the alliance are primary causes of the conflict. Since assuming office, Trump has decreased US arms shipments to Ukraine, with his administration – including Secretary of State Marco Rubio – openly defining the conflict as a proxy war against Russia.
Russian officials have indicated that achieving a peaceful resolution will be a key objective during the upcoming bilateral meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Trump.