UNITED STATES: Former US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States should try to facilitate a peace deal in Ukraine while reducing military support being provided by Washington to Kyiv.
Hugh Hewitt, an American radio talk show host, asked Donald Trump whether he thinks the US should send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to aid in its conflict with Russia.
The former president said, "I think the United States should be negotiating peace between these two countries, and I don't think they should be sending too much."
Also Read: EU country criticises US ambassador for "interference"
He also bemoaned the fact that the US had invested significantly more money in support of Kyiv than the European Union. The Ukraine crisis "affects Europe more than our country," he said, adding that "Europe must do more" because it "affects Europe more than our country."
When asked whether he wanted to completely stop providing aid to Ukraine, Trump sidestepped the question by saying that he wanted to "make it so that Ukraine and Russia ... fight to the last day". "
"It has to stop, and it has to stop immediately. And if we keep loading things up, it won't stop," he said.
Also Read: White House disputes Biden's claim that Putin was offered "20% of Ukraine"
The former US president has frequently criticized the way President Joe Biden's administration has handled the conflict in Ukraine. Last week, Trump claimed that his successor's "weakness and incompetence" had "brought us to the brink of World War III."
He reiterated his claim that the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv would never have happened if he had been elected president.
According to Biden's statement on Monday, the US had no plans to send F-16s to Ukraine. The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, reportedly said that the idea of delivering contemporary fighter jets had divided the bloc's member states and was therefore off the table.
Also Read: US chastises Sudan for releasing a man who was convicted of killing a diplomat
As of 25 January, the US had pledged more than $27 billion in security aid to Ukraine, which included infantry fighting vehicles, air defense systems, heavy artillery and tanks. Moscow has repeatedly cautioned the West against sending arms to Ukraine, claiming that doing so would only worsen the conflict and that NATO would become an active participant in the fighting.