US President Donald Trump said he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month and dismissed Ukraine's concerns that it would be left out of US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia to end the war in Ukraine.
"Probably," Trump said at the end of a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach when asked if he still expected to meet with Putin before the end of the month.
Briefing reporters on the US-Russian talks in Riyadh earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two sides had not set a date for a Trump-Putin summit to discuss Ukraine.
Trump spoke for the first time since the US delegation established a working dialogue with Russia on Ukraine during talks in Riyadh.
He dismissed Ukraine's concerns about being left out of the meeting, saying Kiev could have struck a deal with Russia three years ago to prevent Moscow's invasion.
"Today I heard, 'Oh, we weren't invited.' Well, you've been there for three years, you should have finished it..." Trump said.
Sean Savet, who served as the White House National Security Council spokesman under former President Joe Biden, said in a social media post that Russia started the war.
"It sounds like Trump bought Putin's propaganda hook," he said.
"A reminder that no one should need: Putin started the war with an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and his forces have committed war crimes against the Ukrainian people. Russia is the party responsible for continuing this war," he added.
Trump has condemned Biden for his handling of Ukraine. Biden worked to ensure that Ukraine had weapons to try to fight off a Russian invasion.
"I think I have the power to end this war," Trump said.
He also said that Ukraine should hold elections. "This is not Russia's business, this comes from me and it comes from many other countries," he said.
Trump said he would not oppose the Europeans if they wanted to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
European leaders have discussed sending peacekeepers to provide security guarantees in the event of a peace agreement.
"It would be fine if the soldiers were there, I wouldn't be opposed to that at all," Trump said.
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