U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a warning about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, cautioning that these kinds of conflicts can escalate into world wars.
“Things like this end up in third world wars. And I told that the other day, I said, ‘You know, everybody keeps playing games like this, you’ll end up in a third world war.’ And we don’t want to see that happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Trump’s comments highlight the fragile state of diplomacy in Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine, which Moscow launched on February 24, 2022. Efforts to secure a peace deal have remained complex amid the two countries’ competing priorities.
The U.S. president’s warning of a potential global escalation of the war reflects the deep involvement of European nations, NATO and other powers in the conflict, which is approaching another anniversary.
Speaking about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump said, “I’d like to see the killing stop: 25,000 people died last month, soldiers—mostly soldiers, but some people also where bombs were dropped.”
He noted that the war “doesn’t really affect the United States unless it got out of control,” but warned of the potential of the conflict to escalate into a global war.
Trump added that the U.S. was “working very hard” in its ongoing efforts to broker a peace deal, which he said had support from both sides, with the exception of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky has long said Kyiv would not agree to surrender territory to Russia, which is a part of Trump’s proposal.
“It’s a little bit complicated because you’re cutting up land in a certain way. It’s not the easiest thing. It’s sort of like a complex real estate deal times a thousand,” Trump said on Thursday.
Zelensky said the Trump administration wanted Ukraine to respond to the peace plan by Christmas, amid reports that the U.S. president was growing frustrated with Kyiv’s refusal to accept the suggested terms.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday: “I thought that we were very close with Russia to having a deal. I thought we were very close with Ukraine to having a deal. In fact, other than President Zelensky, his people loved the concept of the deal.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday: “The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.”
The U.S. is set to continue diplomatic efforts to push both Russia and Ukraine toward a peace agreement, though it remains to be seen whether both sides will agree to a deal soon.
