US President Donald Trump has warned that American troops “could be” drawn into the conflict if Russia’s war on Ukraine escalates into “World War III.”
The 78-year-old president made the remarks on Fox News on Tuesday, hours after a nearly two-hour phone conversation with Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
Trump, in a chat with Laura Ingraham on The Ingraham Angle, admitted that “Russia has the advantage” in the war and said, “We want to get it over with.”
The president described his call with Putin as “great” and said he had pushed for a 30-day ceasefire, though the Russian leader only agreed to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
“Right now, you have a lot of guns pointing at each other, and a ceasefire without going a little bit further would have been tough,” Trump stated.
He insisted that his efforts aimed to prevent US involvement in the conflict but warned, “Look, we’re doing this – there are no Americans involved.
“There could be if you end up in World War III over this, which is so ridiculous. But, you know, strange things happen.”
Despite a limited ceasefire on energy targets, both Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of launching fresh attacks early Wednesday.
Ukraine reported that Russia’s drone strikes damaged two hospitals in Sumy, forcing evacuations.
In the Kyiv region, a Russian attack injured a 60-year-old man and damaged several houses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russia launched over 40 drones following Trump’s call with Putin.
Ukrainian air defence shot down 72 of 145 drones fired by Russia overnight, but significant damage was reported in Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions.
Zelensky had previously agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire, but after the renewed attacks, stated, “Today, Putin de facto rejected the proposal for a complete ceasefire. It would be right for the world to reject in response any attempts by Putin to drag out the war.”
His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, reinforced this message, saying, “Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure and people – right now.”
Trump reiterated that he believed the war would not have happened if he were still president. “We had a great call. It lasted almost two hours. Talked about a lot of things and toward getting it to peace. This was a war that would have never happened if I were president,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes continued targeting Ukraine’s energy sector, with Moscow also reporting Ukrainian drone attacks on its oil facilities.
Following the Putin-Trump call, Zelensky spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“We are in constant communication. I am confident that there will be no betrayal from our partners and that the assistance will continue,” he said.
