Trump wants to end Ukraine war 'to get into heaven', White House says, as it confirms US air support 'an option'
Donald Trump has “learned a lot” from Vladimir Putin and wants to end the Ukraine war to “get into heaven”, the White House has said.
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Speaking less than 24 hours after Mr Trump held historic talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared new details on the president’s plan for peace in Ukraine.
She confirmed earlier comments by the president that American air support could be used in Ukraine to prevent Russian aggression, but reiterated no US soldiers will be stationed on the ground as part of promised security guarantees.
On a call Mr Trump held with Putin last night, Ms Leavitt said: “The President has learned a lot from Vladimir Putin, which is why he opened up this dialogue.
Read more: Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey 'worried' Donald Trump wants a deal with Putin at any cost
“The previous President (Biden) refused to talk. To move forward to peace, you have to have open dialogue.
“President Trump is understanding what both sides want, what both sides are going to have to give up, and both sides are going to have to walk away a bit unhappy.”
Pressed on comments made by Mr Trump to Fox News on Tuesday, where he said he wished to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in order to “get into heaven”, Ms Leavitt assured reporters he was being serious.
“I think the President was being serious. I think he wants to get to heaven, as we all do in this room,” she said.
Speaking to Fox, Mr Trump had said: "If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that's a pretty... I want to try to get to heaven if possible, I'm hearing that I'm not doing well.
"I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons."
In an interview with the US outlet, Mr Trump insisted that the US will not put boots on the ground in Ukraine, but could support the nation with air power.
Mr Trump said in a phone call to Fox News on Tuesday that the United States could be willing to help Ukraine "by air" but ruled out putting American soldiers on the ground.
He added that Ukraine was "not going to be a part of Nato" but European troops would deter any future Russian invasion.
His comments came after Monday's meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the “coalition of the willing” in Washington.
He said: "We’re willing to help them with things, especially probably if you could talk about by air, because there’s nobody has the kind of stuff we have."
Following Monday's talks, Mr Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin about a three-way meeting between the three leaders to work out a path to peace.
During the call with Fox, he added that Putin would face a "rough situation" if he did not co-operate in the peace process, while Zelenskyy had to "show some flexibility".
He said that Ukraine will not be able to get back Crimea and would not be joining Nato as part of a peace deal.
"I hope President Putin is going to be good and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation," said Mr Trump.
"And I hope that Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy, will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility."
Putin is reported to be "tired" of the war but it was still "possible" he would not strike a peace deal.
Mr Trump said: "(Ukraine) are not going to be a part of Nato but we’ve got the European nations, so they’ll front-load it and they’ll have – some of them, France and Germany, a couple of them, the UK – they are going to have boots on the ground.
"I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, to be honest. I think Putin is tired of it, I think they are all tired of it, but you never know.
"We are going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks, that I can tell you."
Defence secretary John Healey has said that the UK is ready to put boots on the ground to provide guarantees to Ukraine from day one of a ceasefire.
He said that military plans are already complete for multinational forces to act as a deterrent against Russia reigniting violence in the region.
Fox News asked the President what leaders had said to him during their discussions in the Oval Office.
He said: "They’re very good people. They’re very good leaders of their countries, and they want to get back to leading their country.
"You know, they’re consumed far more with this than we are, because they’re right there.
"We have an ocean that’s separating us […] a big, beautiful ocean, and they don’t, you know, they’re right there.
"It’s a different kind of a thing for them.
"They’re willing to put people on the ground.