Vladimir and I had a very good relationship, probably we still do. I do not understand why he continues with this war, it has been so bad for him, says Trump to journalists in the White House in connection with the visit of Argentina's president Javier Milei.
Disputed figures
Trump claims that Putin has lost 1.5 million soldiers, or close to that number.
They are certainly (that many) if you count the wounded, those who have lost arms and legs and such things that happen in terrible wars, he says in clips from Fox News broadcast that is spread on X.
Exactly how large the losses Moscow has had in Ukraine is disputed and difficult to verify. According to a review that the Russian exile media site Mediazona and the British BBC published in September, more than 130,000 killed Russian soldiers have been identified. The Ukrainian military claims in an ongoing compilation that over 1.1 million Russian soldiers have been "eliminated" in the war. The term refers to both the killed and the injured who are not expected to be able to return to the battlefield.
Meets Zelenskyj
Donald Trump's statement comes before he on Friday receives Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyj in the White House. The American says that the Ukraine war is "the worst that has happened since World War II" in terms of the number of dead.
He (Putin) must end it. You know, they have long gas lines in Russia now, long queues. Who thought that? Suddenly the economy will collapse.
Trump emphasizes that the war makes the Russian leader appear in a bad light.
We had a good relationship, but he just does not want to end the war. It makes him look bad.
