UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Donald Trump has repeatedly said he can resolve the war between Russia and Ukraine in a day if he is re-elected president. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations says he cannot.
When asked to respond to the presumptive Republican nominee’s claim, Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Monday that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”
During a CNN town hall meeting in May 2023, Trump said, “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’m going to have it done — I’m going to have it done within 24 hours.” He said that would happen after he killed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir PutinAnd he continues to repeat this claim throughout the campaign.
During last week’s debate with President Joe Biden, Trump claimed, “If we had had a real president, a president who knew — and who was respected by Putin … he would never have invaded Ukraine.”
Nebenzia said the war could have ended in Istanbul in April 2022 when Russia and Ukraine were “very close” to an agreement. Moscow invaded its neighbor two months earlier, on February 24, 2022, although Russia maintains its “special military operation” began in 2014 after clashes in eastern Ukraine resulted in Moscow seizing the Crimean peninsula.
The Russian ambassador blamed Ukraine’s Western backers for blocking the April 2022 peace deal and told Kiev to continue the fight against Russia.
Now, he said, “Zelenskyy is running around with his so-called peace plan, which of course is not a peace plan, it’s a joke.” At a meeting in Switzerland last month, nearly 80 countries called for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” to be the basis for a peace deal to end the war. But some key developing countries did not join in, and Russia did not attend the conference.
Nebenzia pointed to Putin’s June 14 offer to “immediately” order a ceasefire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kiev begins withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and abandons plans to join NATO.
Zelensky, who had vowed not to give up any territory, rejected what he called an ultimatum from Putin to cede more land.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Nebenzia’s remarks.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces have thwarted their advance on the capital. Much of the fighting has taken place in southern and eastern Ukraine, where Moscow illegally seized four regions, though it does not fully control any of them.
But Ukraine is still struggling to stabilize parts of its frontline after much-needed military aid from the United States was delayed for months before being approved in April. And Russia has taken advantage of Ukraine’s arms shortage to launch an offensive and has made gains.
Nebenzia called Zelenskyy’s peace formula “a nonstarter” and said he must be “realistic” and take into account what has happened since April. The more difficult the situation for Ukraine on the ground becomes, he warned, the harder diplomacy will be to end the war.
