Trump Says Russia Holds “The Cards” in Ukraine Peace Talks

Trump Says Russia Holds “The Cards” in Ukraine Peace Talks

US President Donald Trump stated that Russia holds “the cards” in the ongoing peace talks with Ukraine, as it controls a significant portion of Ukrainian territory. In an interview with the BBC, Trump said, “I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. I think they have the cards a little bit, because they’ve taken a lot of territory. They have the cards.”On February 18, US officials, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, held talks with top Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, although Ukraine was not present. According to AP reports, the US and Russia have begun efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had planned to visit the US, postponed his trip in response to the meeting, as Ukrainian officials were excluded.Trump responded to Zelensky’s reaction at a news conference in Florida, saying, “Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years ago. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”Zelensky had previously criticized the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, stating, “With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader… he is living in this disinformation space.”In other developments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that Russia would resume talks with the US “on all parameters” and expressed agreement with the American administration that negotiations are necessary to achieve peace as soon as possible.