Trump Pede Ends Ukraine War, Russian Diplomat: Separate Pre-Employment Retorics, Let's Be Realistic

JAKARTA - Russian diplomats said on Thursday that Donald Trump's statement that he could quickly end Ukraine's war should be seen realistically, given he had promised a Middle East peace breakthrough but failed to achieve it during his term as president.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had recorded Trump's statement, running against incumbent President Joe Biden in the US general election in November, as well as by his newly nominated vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.

"We saw the statement, Trump said he would resolve the conflict within 24 hours, then Vance said China was a bigger problem for the United States than the Russia-Ukraine conflict," Zakharova told reporters.

"It is important to separate pre-election rhetoric from statements by appropriate government officials. If we talk about whether it is possible to resolve the conflict, let's be realistic," he stressed.

Zakharova further said Trump, during his 2017-2021 presidential term, had made an ambitious statement about resolving Middle Eastern conflicts.

"They have been preparing for this century's agreement for a long time, but have produced nothing, and under Biden, on the contrary, a colossal historical tragedy has taken place," Zakharova quipped, referring to the Gaza war.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had given various opinions about the US Presidential Election. In February, he said Biden was a better choice from a Moscow point of view, as he was an easier-to-guessed "old school" politician.

In June, President Putin said the results would not make much difference to Russia, but it was clear that the US court system was used in a political battle against Trump.

President Putin said he took Trump's comments about ending Ukraine's war seriously, but did not know the details of what he proposed.

Last month, President Putin said Russia was willing to end the war, but Ukraine had to give up the entire four regions claimed to have been annexed by Moscow (Lugansk, Kherson, Donetsk and Zaporizhia). Ukraine immediately rejected the requirement, saying it was tantamount to giving up.