The former president has said that he would \u201csettle\u201d the Ukraine conflict even before assuming office<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former US President Donald Trump has said that he would stop handing over tens of billions of dollars to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, promising to have the situation in Ukraine \u201csettled\u201d if he is re-elected this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think Zelensky is maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that\u2019s ever lived,\u201d Trump told supporters at \u2018The People\u2019s Convention\u2019, a conservative conference held by Turning Point Action in Michigan on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion,\u201d Trump said of the Ukrainian leader. \u201cSo now here\u2019s the beauty. He just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he gets home and he announces that he needs another $60 billion or else it never ends, it never ends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US and other G7 nations on Thursday announced a $50 billion loan for Ukraine, which would be backed by revenue generated by roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. While Zelensky did not ask for \u201canother $60 billion\u201d after leaving the G7 gathering in Italy, he has repeatedly chided his Western backers for not handing over sufficient quantities of cash and weapons, and intensely lobbied Republican lawmakers in Washington to approve a $61 billion military aid package in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will have that settled prior to taking the White House,\u201d Trump told the crowd in Michigan. \u201cAs president-elect, I will have that settled.\u201d Trump then reiterated, as he has on numerous occasions since 2022, that the Ukraine conflict \u201cnever would have happened\u201d had he been president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has repeatedly argued that US President Joe Biden\u2019s policy of open-ended military support for Ukraine is leading the US toward a \u201cthird world war,\u201d and has promised that he would end the conflict \u201cin 24 hours\u201d if he defeats Biden in this November\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has never fully elaborated on how he would do this, save for forcing Zelensky to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but recent reports by Bloomberg and the Washington Post suggest that he would leverage the US\u2019 massive military assistance to Kiev to pressure Zelensky into accepting the loss of some of Ukraine\u2019s pre-conflict territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Trump did not lobby his Congressional allies to block the $61 billion aid package in April, and said at the time that he would support lending, rather than gifting, money to Zelensky in future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n