Russia says ‘let’s be realistic’ about Trump plan to end Ukraine war

MOSCOW — Russia said on Thursday that Donald Trump’s assertion he could quickly end the Ukraine war should be viewed realistically, given that he had promised a Middle East peace breakthrough but failed to achieve it during his presidency.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had noted statements by Trump, who is running against President Joe Biden in November’s U.S. election, and by his newly nominated running mate J.D. Vance.

“We saw the statements – Trump said he would resolve the conflict within 24 hours, then Vance said that China is a bigger problem for the United States than the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” Zakharova told reporters.

“It’s necessary to separate pre-election rhetoric from statements by government officials vested with the appropriate powers. If we talk about whether it’s possible to resolve the conflict, let’s be realistic.”

Zakharova said that Trump, during his 2017-2021 presidency, had made ambitious statements about resolving the Middle East conflict.

“They prepared for the ‘deal of the century’ for quite a long time, but it did not end in anything, and under Biden, on the contrary, a colossal historical tragedy happened,” she said, referring to the Gaza war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered a variety of opinions on the U.S. election. In February he said Biden was the better option from Moscow’s point of view because he was a more predictable “old school” politician. In June he said the outcome would not make much difference to Russia either way but it was clear the U.S. court system was being used in a political battle against Trump.

Putin has said that he takes Trump’s comments on ending the Ukraine war seriously, but doesn’t know details of what he is proposing.

The Kremlin said last week it had noted Biden’s verbal slip-ups, including when he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as “President Putin” at an event in Washington. It said comments by Biden, who described Putin as a “murderous madman”, were disrespectful and unacceptable.

At her weekly briefing, Zakharova was also asked about a statement by Zelenskiy this week that he aimed to have a plan ready in November to enable Kyiv to hold a second international peace summit. Zelenskiy said Russia, which was not invited to a first summit in Switzerland last month, should be involved this time.

Putin said last month that Russia was willing to end the war, but only if Ukraine gave up the entirety of four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed. Ukraine instantly rejected those terms, saying they would be tantamount to surrender.