- Mentions Putin praised US mediation in global conflicts.
- Complains he wasn’t given the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Says Pakistan-Afghanistan peace is “within reach.”
US President Donald Trump said he has helped defuse eight global conflicts over the past eight months, citing the Pakistan-India standoff and the Gaza peace deal as examples, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
“‘This is number nine. This will be number nine for me,” Trump told reporters on Friday ahead of his talks with Zelensky, referencing the Ukraine-Russia conflict that nears its four-year mark.
“I’ve solved eight conflicts, including the Middle East. This [Ukraine-Russia] I thought would have been among the easiest. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin mentioned yesterday — Armenia, you know, all of the different wars. He said it was amazing, but the big one that he was surprised that we were able to settle was the Middle East.”
Zelensky came to Washington seeking arms to bolster his country’s forces in Ukraine’s three-year-old conflict with Russia.
However, Trump frequently highlighted his peace summit with Putin, which took place just weeks earlier, as He and Zelenskiy spoke with reporters.
That meeting hastily came together on Thursday, making clear that Trump remains intent on brokering a peace deal and taking the air out of Zelenskiy’s pitch for the missiles.
Before his private lunch meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump said the two leaders would discuss his call with Putin the previous day.
He again reiterated his belief that his efforts merit the Nobel Peace Prize.
“It’s funny how people say that if you get this one, every time I do one, they forget about that one. I solved eight wars.
“Go to Rwanda and the Congo. Talk about India and Pakistan.
“Look at Thailand. Every time I solve one, they say, ‘If you solve the next one, you’re going to get the Nobel Prize.’ I didn’t get a Nobel Prize.
“Like somebody got it, who’s a very nice woman, very nice. I don’t know who she is, but she was very generous,” Trump said.
— Additional details from Reuters
