President Donald Trump said ending the war in Ukraine could be one of his chances of reaching heaven, as he recounted the Aug. 18 White House peace talks during an Aug. 19 “Fox & Friends” interview.
“I want to try and get to heaven if possible,” Trump said in the phone interview. “I hear I’m not doing well. I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole.”
Reflecting on progress toward peace, he added, “But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
On Aug. 18, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and six other European leaders at the White House to discuss a path to peace, as CatholicVote reported. In the interview the next day, he outlined progress made in those peace talks.
Trump stressed that American troops will not defend Ukraine’s border: “You have my assurance, and I’m President. I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed him at a press briefing later on Aug. 19. She flatly stated, “US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine.”
She added that Trump left open the possibility of providing coordination or other security guarantees to European allies.
According to Trump, NATO membership for Ukraine is off the table. But he said France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have expressed willingness to “have boots on the ground” to end the war.
The President also said he phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Aug. 18 talks to arrange a direct meeting with Zelenskyy. A trilateral meeting could follow “if everything works out okay.”
“I told [Putin] that we’re going to set up a meeting with President Zelenskyy,” Trump said. “It takes, in this case, two to tango. They have to have somewhat of a relationship, otherwise we’re just wasting a lot of time.”
He added, “We’re going to hear from President Putin in the next couple of weeks.”
Trump also stressed urgency, saying he rejected suggestions from one European leader to meet again in “a month or two” to move forward. He warned that waiting would mean “40,000 people dead in a month or two. You have to do it tonight.”
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Author: Elise Winland
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