**Trump Believes Putin Wants to End Ukraine War**
US President Donald Trump said on February 16 that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to stop fighting in Ukraine. This comes as a US delegation prepares to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.
Trump spoke about his phone call with Putin, which took place on February 12. He believes Putin is tired of the war and wants to start negotiations to end it immediately. Trump said that Russia has a powerful military machine, but he thinks Putin would like to stop fighting.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concerns about Ukraine’s role in the negotiations. He told reporters that Kyiv did not receive an invitation to attend the meeting in Riyadh and only found out through media reports.
Zelensky also seemed to rebuff Trump’s opinion on Putin’s motives during an interview with NBC News. He warned that there are risks of Russia waging war against NATO, and that Poland and Lithuania could be at risk.
Russia is training 150,000 troops in Belarus for a large-scale operation that could happen as early as this summer. This has raised concerns among European leaders, who will participate in an emergency summit in Paris on February 17.
Trump’s comments come as the US administration begins peace talks with Russia without input from Europe. European leaders have shared similar concerns over Russia’s territorial ambitions.
When asked if he believes Russia seeks to seize the entire Ukrainian territory, Trump dismissed the prospects. He said that Putin wants to stop fighting and that would be a big problem for the US.
Earlier in the day, Trump reaffirmed that Zelensky would have a say in the peace negotiations and mentioned the possibility of allowing European nations to purchase U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine.
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