Quotes
The readiness of the Russian side has been repeatedly confirmed by the president [Vladimir Putin], the readiness of the Russian side without any preliminary conditions to begin the negotiation process with Ukraine in order to get on peaceful path. The efforts are continuing. That is all we can say on that,
he said, ... according to comments translated by NBC News
We tell the Ukrainians, ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up.’ And you tell Putin, ‘He’s got to come to the table and if you don’t come to the table, then we’ll give Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field,’
This is ... Kellogg had said
Russian troops could have been defeated and expelled from Ukraine back in 2022, if the West had initially taken a tough stance toward Russia, and Ukraine had received the necessary amount of weapons,
explained former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev.jpg)
They may sign documents, but whether they keep to agreements is another matter. Remember the Budapest Memorandum. French President Mitterrand refused to add his signature … and warned our president [Leonid Kuchma], ‘Young man, they will trick you.’ Kuchma told me this story. After 30 years, the Russians did just that — they tricked us.”
As Ukraine’s former Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov noted to POLITICO last year
Oh, I think so,
Trump told reporters in Bedminster, New Jersey, when asked whether he thought Zelenskyy
The war has been raging for three years. I just got here, and you say, ‘What’s taken so long?’”
In the same Time magazine interview, Trump appeared to chafe at the idea that he was running behind schedule on securing peace in Eastern Europe, saying in part ... He made
Within 100 days, President Trump has gotten both Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table with the aim to bring this horrific war to a peaceful resolution,
Hewitt said
Obviously, the president feels like we are making progress, but he's been frustrated at both sides, which he's made clear,
Blair said
I think that Putin thinks that America has taken the bullet train to chump town,
Kennedy said
He wants to keep all the territory that he's taken, ... he wants to prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO and he wants America and Europe to stop helping Ukraine."
Kennedy addedI don't think it's going to get any better until we make it clear to Mr. Putin that we are willing to turn him and his country into fish food."
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said
IVE SEEN ENOUGH KILLING OF INNOCENT UKRAINIAN women + children. President Trump pls put the toughest of sanctions on Putin. U ought to c from clear evidence that he is playing America as a patsy."
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said in a post on X FridayI think he thinks we're afraid of him,
the Louisiana senator said of the Russian leaderThe Biden people believed in diplomacy first, last and always, ... we're in a knife fight with Russia and China and Iran and the Biden people wanted to quote Socrates to them."
he said.jpg)
He is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries,
Karoline Leavitt said
He's also being realistic as well,
Leavitt saidI went in with the imprimatur of the president, and that's the difference maker,
he said, always careful giving the credit for his negotiations to Trump
This is the kind of connection that we've been able to reestablish through, by the way, a simple word called communication
Witkoff told journalist Tucker Carlson in a March interview_(cropped).jpg)
You know, in the beginning I didn't like it,
he admitted, when Carlson asked about the attacks against his characterThe pain was unbearable, but as usual Donald Trump showed up,
Witkoff recalled during his speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention