President Donald Trump said he was disappointed with Russia for launching missile strikes while efforts were underway to broker a peace agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Speaking with reporters, Trump addressed a wide range of topics, including the Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
Putin first proposed the meeting in an apparent attempt to derail Western nations’ intentions to impose further sanctions if Moscow did not commit to a 30-day truce on a few weeks ago. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky requested that the Russian leader meet with him in person in Istanbul.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said that Moscow will send a team but did not indicate who would represent Russia. He also declined to confirm if Putin will attend the talks.
Reports indicate that U.S. officials have floated a potential ceasefire proposal that would include recognizing Russia’s control of Crimea—territory it annexed in 2014—and freezing current frontlines. However, Zelenskyy has made it clear that Crimea remains a non-negotiable red line.
In 2022, Zelenskyy said the Russian war against Ukraine and against the entire free Europe “began with Crimea and must end with Crimea – and its liberation,” according to a report from Axios.
Zelenskyy reaffirmed his government’s position, dismissing any proposal that would acknowledge Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Trump, meanwhile, placed the blame for the loss of Crimea on the prior U.S. administrations of Presidents Obama and Biden, criticizing their handling of the region.
Trump said: “Crimea was given away by Barack Hussein Obama, and by Biden, like 11 or 12 years ago. That’s a long time ago,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know how he could bring up Crimea, because that’s been a long time. Nobody brought it up for 12 years, and now they’re bringing it up now. So, I told them, I told him, he should maybe go back to Obama, ask him why they gave it up. They gave it without a shot being fired by him.”
As far as current negotiations about reaching peace, Trump said he wanted Putin to “stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal.”
“We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it,” the president said.
Trump went on to say that the U.S. is respected once again after he took office.
“There’s no more games,” he said. “We have somebody that knows what he’s doing, not like the previous person who didn’t have a clue.”
This comes as Trump is dealing with promised repercussions for protestors who spit on police officers amid the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, California.
Hours after sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles, California, President Donald Trump promised repercussions for protestors who spit on police officers.
Speaking to reporters alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New Jersey before boarding Air Force One, the president criticized the protestors’ methods.
On Saturday, he authorized the deployment of at least 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to demonstrations over ICE raids on employers.
Trump told reporters that he is considering invoking the Insurrection Act in response to the riots and chaos.
A new report reveals one of the main groups behind the anti-ICE demonstrators on the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday, which has led to many insulting and harassing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The statement comes after President Donald Trump federalized just shy of 2,000 California National Guard troops, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put another 500 U.S. Marines located nearby at Camp Pendleton on standby.
There are more protests expected in California on Monday and maybe the rest of the week.
