President Donald Trump remained mostly tight-lipped following a significant summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, yet he shared important insights during an exclusive conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News.
1. No Deal Until There’s a Deal
Trump mentioned, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” which is a bit vague, but he acknowledged, “We’ve made a lot of progress.” So, progress is good, right?
2. Open to Peace
The president expressed his belief that Putin is open to peace and seems ready to “want to be accomplished.” He indicated that if Putin doesn’t agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine during the upcoming summit in Alaska, he “will not be happy.”
3. Keeping Issues Under Wrap
Hannity pushed for insights about disagreements between the two leaders that may have stalled progress on a ceasefire. Trump sidestepped, saying, “No, I’m not… someone will reveal it; they’ll understand it. But no, I don’t want to do it, I want to see if we can get it done.”
4. Zelenskyy’s Role
After meeting with Putin, Trump suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might need to step in, along with some involvement from European nations, to help move things forward.
5. Triangular Talks on the Table
The president signaled his willingness to participate in a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy and Putin, stating, “If they like it, I will attend that meeting.” He is clearly keen on getting involved.
6. Rating the Summit
Trump rated the meeting a perfect 10, saying, “I think the meeting was 10 in the sense that we did well.” Well, that’s high praise.
7. Russia’s Respect
When asked what brought Putin to negotiations, Trump commented, “I don’t want to bring him, he’s a very clever guy.” He seemed to think Putin respects the U.S. more now compared to when Biden was in office.
8. A Different Scenario
Trump asserted that if he were still in office, the Russian-Ukraine conflict wouldn’t have emerged, reflecting on his discussions at the press conference.
9. Advice for Zelenskyy
Without missing a beat, Trump advised Zelenskyy to “make a deal” after their chat on Friday. Simple enough, right?
10. Election Discussion
Trump mentioned that Putin believed the 2020 election was affected due to widespread mail-in voting. That’s an intriguing point, albeit a controversial one.
