Donald Trump has said that his administration is continuing its efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and expressed hopes of engaging with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to do so. Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office on Friday (September 19), Mr Trump said: “We’re working very hard to get Russia-Ukraine settled. We’ll see what’s going to happen there.”
He expressed confidence that the issue will be resolved, before adding that after his conversation with Xi Jinping earlier that day, he believes China will also join the process of settlement. “President Xi and I spoke about it, and I believe that he really would like to see it done also,” he said. “I think he’s going to work with us to help.” This was the first phone call between the leaders of the two superpowers in three months and appears to show a lowering of tensions between them, mainly over trade.
The US President reiterated his previous statements that Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky “hate each other”, before praising himself again for “stopping seven wars”.
Mr Trump added: “Nobody has ever done anything like this.”. He also repeated his attitude towards Russian aggression and took another stab at former president, Joe Biden: “This is a war that should never have started. This is a war that would never have happened if I were President.”
In addition, Mr Trump said he “does not like” the incidents with Russian aircraft in the Baltic Sea and expects details from intelligence services. On Friday, three Russian jets entered Estonia’s airspace without permission. This comes after western warplanes were sent to protect Poland after Mr Putin encroached its airspace with 23 drones last week.
Finally, the president also touched on the topic of supplying weapons and equipment to Ukraine, saying he does not “want to make money on the war,” but they are doing so because Ukraine is buying American equipment.
According to Mr Trump, the war in Ukraine was not the only topic of his conversation with Xi Jinping. He said the leaders had made progress on a TikTok agreement and would meet face-to-face in six weeks’ time in South Korea, where they also plan to discuss trade and illicit drugs.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump said that Washington and Beijing had agreed a deal on the social media platform, under which it would be transferred to US control.
The short-form video platform has been under a de jure nationwide ban in the US since January, due to the US government’s concerns over potential user data collection and influence operations by China’s government.
The platform was suspended on Mr Biden’s last day in office on January 18, but the following day, after President-elect Trump signalled that he would grant an extension upon being inaugurated, services were restored. So far, the ban has yet to be enforced.
Mr Trump also suggested positive movement on trade and fentanyl during the call, which he said lasted about two hours.
The leaders agreed to further talks when they both visit Gyeongju, South Korea, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which starts on October 31. The US president also said he would visit China early next year and that Mr Xi would come to the US at a later date.
