Trump says he can end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day. Russia’s UN ambassador says he cannot

TANZANIA – Donald Trump has repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine within a day if he were re-elected president. Russia’s UN ambassador says he cannot.

When asked to respond to the presumptive Republican nominee’s claim, Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Monday that “the Ukraine crisis cannot be solved in one day.”

At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said, “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’m going to make sure – I’m going to make sure that happens in 24 hours.” He said that would happen after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he’s repeated that claim over and over again during the campaign.

During the debate with President Joe Biden last week, Trump claimed: “If we had a real president, a president who knew what he was doing – who Putin respected … he would never have attacked Ukraine.”

Nebenzia said the war could have ended in Istanbul in April 2022, when Russia and Ukraine were “very close” to an agreement. Moscow had attacked its neighbor two months earlier on February 24, 2022, although Russia insists its “special military operation” began in 2014 after clashes in eastern Ukraine led to Moscow’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula.

The Russian ambassador blamed Western supporters of Ukraine for blocking the April 2022 peace agreement and called on Kyiv to continue the fight against Russia.

Now, he said, “Zelensky is running around with his so-called peace plan, which of course is not a peace plan, it’s a joke.” At a meeting in Switzerland last month, nearly 80 countries demanded that Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” be the basis for any peace agreement to end the war. However, some key developing countries did not join in and Russia did not attend the conference.

Nebenzia referred to Putin’s offer on June 14 to “immediately” order a ceasefire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv begins withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and abandons plans to join NATO.

Zelensky, who had vowed not to give up any territory, rejected an ultimatum from Putin to give up more land.

The Trump team did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Nebenzia’s remarks.

After Russia’s large-scale invasion, Ukrainian troops were able to thwart the advance on the capital. The fighting was concentrated mainly in the south and east of Ukraine, where Moscow illegally occupied four regions over which it does not have full control.

But Ukraine is still struggling to stabilize parts of its front line after desperately needed military assistance from the United States took months to arrive before being approved in April. And Russia took advantage of the Ukrainians’ lack of weapons to launch an offensive that has had success.

Nebenzia called Zelensky’s peace formula “unworkable” and said he had to be “realistic” and take into account what had happened since April. The more difficult the situation becomes for Ukraine on the ground, he warned, the more difficult it will be to end the war diplomatically.