By Solomon 
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted that he might meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month. When asked at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach if he still expected to meet Putin soon, Trump simply replied, “Probably,” before wrapping things up.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about recent U.S.-Russia discussions in Saudi Arabia regarding the Ukraine war but clarified that no date had been set for a Trump-Putin summit. This comes after a U.S. delegation opened talks with Russia about Ukraine earlier in the day.
Addressing concerns from Ukraine about being excluded from those discussions, Trump brushed them off, saying Kyiv had its chance to make a deal with Moscow years ago. “Today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it… you should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.
Not everyone agrees with Trump’s take. Sean Savett, a former spokesperson for the White House National Security Council under Joe Biden, slammed Trump’s comments, accusing him of buying into Russian propaganda. He pointed out that Russia, not Ukraine, started the war by invading, and that Russian forces have committed war crimes.
Trump, however, continued to criticize Biden’s handling of Ukraine, claiming, “I think I have the power to end this war.” He also pushed for Ukraine to hold elections, saying, “That’s not a Russia thing, that’s something coming from me and from many other countries.”
On the idea of European peacekeeping troops being deployed to Ukraine, Trump said he wouldn’t be against it. European leaders have been discussing sending troops as part of potential security guarantees in a peace deal. “Having troops over there would be fine, I wouldn’t object to it at all,” Trump said.