Rome [Italy], March 4: The Russian war against Ukraine is high on US President Donald Trump's priority list, he said on Tuesday.
He said there is a "tremendous hatred" between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office.
As recently as 2024, Trump claimed during his election campaign that he would end the war within 24 hours as president. However, efforts through US mediation are currently stalled.
"Sometimes I blame one, sometimes I blame the other," Trump said.
The US president is known for his fluctuating positions on the war, although he is often accused of being too close to the Russian position.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reaffirmed the European position on the war in Ukraine during his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
"We all want to see this war coming to an end as soon as possible," Merz said in Washington. "But Ukraine has to preserve its territory and their security interests and well, we will talk about that."
Merz is visiting Trump at the White House for the third time. He made his inaugural visit in June of the previous year, which was notably harmonious.
At that time, Trump called Merz a "good man" and promised the US would have a "great relationship" with Germany.
In August, Merz attended a Ukraine summit at the White House with other leading European politicians.
Once again, Trump praised his guest from Germany. He said that Merz is a very successful man, does his job very well, and is very popular.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he fears that the delivery of weapons his country needs to fight Russia could be delayed by the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East.
"It could become difficult to procure missiles and weapons for the defence of our airspace," Zelensky told the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday. "The Americans and their allies in the Middle East could need them for defence, for example anti-Patriot missiles."
The Ukrainian president referred to experiences during the US and Israeli attacks on Iran in June last year when the delivery of missiles slowed down.
"This has not yet happened today, but I fear that it could happen again," Zelensky said. At the same time, he expressed the hope that it would not lead to "a long war" in the Middle East.
Ukraine has been defending itself against neighbouring Russia for more than four years.
In principle, Zelensky supported the action against Iran because the country is one of Russia's supporters.
"I think it's a good decision to attack Iranian military targets. The Iranians produce a lot of weapons for Russia, especially drones and missiles," he said, adding that they could probably no longer do this.
Zelensky added: "I hope that the Iran crisis will remain a limited operation. We know from our own experience how bloody something like this can become."
Source: Qatar Tribune
