Trump suggests that Ukraine should not have fought back after the Russia invasion

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump suggested in an interview that aired Thursday night that Ukraine should not have put up a fight when Russia invaded it.

“Zelenskyy was fighting for a much bigger entity, much bigger, much more powerful,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “He shouldn’t have done that because we could have made a deal.”

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Trump has argued that Zelenskyy should have made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to avoid the war, a position he repeated in the Fox News interview.

“I could have made that deal so easily, and Zelenskyy decided that ‘I want to fight,'” Trump said.

Trump went on to compare the number of tanks each country had, emphasizing that Russia had more.

“You don’t fight for them,” Trump said.

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond when asked how Trump thinks Ukraine should have responded when Russia launched its invasion. The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia, an American adversary, attacked Ukraine, an American ally, in February 2022. Numbers are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Former President Joe Biden, who was in office when Russia attacked, consistently emphasized his alliance with Ukraine, pushed for aid to the beleaguered country and praised Zelenskyy’s leadership. The Biden administration also placed sanctions on Russia shortly after it invaded, citing the war and other issues.

Trump has taken a markedly different approach, saying in the Fox News interview that Zelenskyy is “no angel,” adding that he “should not have allowed this war to happen.” Trump also said that if Russia does not move to “end this war soon,” the United States would impose “massive tariffs” and “massive sanctions” on Russia.

Trump has said he would end the war within a day. However, there are no signs that it is any closer to ending.

Trump met with Zelenskyy in September, when he said he would work to end the war with a deal “that’s good for both sides.”

“We’re going to work very hard with both parties to try to get this settled and make it work,” Trump told reporters before they met.

That same month, Trump also referred to Putin on a campaign trail as “no angel.”

Trump’s comments came in a two-part Fox News interview taped Wednesday. The second part of the interview, which included Trump’s comments about Zelenskyy, was broadcast on Thursday.