Donald Trump‘s claim he can end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours has been rubbished by the Kremlin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US president elect’s boast was an “exaggeration”.
In his remarks, reported by RT International, Peskov said: “Of course, it was an exaggeration of sorts when [Trump] was saying he would do it overnight.”
He added there was no magic wand to end the conflict, adding: “If the new [US] administration seeks peace rather than a continuation of the conflict, it will be better than the previous one.”
Mr Trump made his claim at a town hall meeting in May last year. He said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.”
He repeated the claim on the campaign trail during the presidential election and boasted in a debate with Joe Biden that if the United States had a president respected by Putin then the Russian leader would never have invaded Ukraine.
Unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal are reported to have said one idea could see Kyiv’s NATO membership delayed for at least 20 years in exchange for continuing arms supplies.
The sources suggested Mr Trump’s inner circle wants to halt the war on the front lines with a demilitarized zone in east Ukraine.
Peskov was speaking on the same day European leaders were meeting to discuss the implications of the US election result at a meeting in Budapest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky objected to Mr Trump’s claim Russia’s war with Ukraine could be ended in a day.
He and his backers in Europe fear doing so would mean peace on terms favourable to Putin and involve the surrender of Ukrainian territory. Mr Zelensky said: “If it is going to be very fast, it will be a loss for Ukraine.”
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said Brussels would talk to Washington about Russia being not only a threat to Europe, but also to global security.
Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, predicted a new Trump administration will cease to provide support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The nationalist leader has long sought to undermine EU support for Ukraine, and routinely blocked, delayed or watered down the bloc’s efforts to provide weapons and funding as well as efforts to sanction Moscow for its invasion.
Orbán, who is considered close to both Mr Trump and Putin, repeated his long-held position an immediate cease-fire should be declared.
He suggested Ukraine has already lost its fight, telling Hungarian state radio: “The situation on the front is obvious – there’s been a military defeat. The Americans are going to pull out of this war.”
