US President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.
In an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the war in Ukraine – which Russia invaded in early 2022 – to a fight between two young children who hated each other.
“Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart,” Trump said. He added that he had relayed that analogy to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their phone conversation on Wednesday.
Asked about Trump’s comments as the two leaders sat next to each other, Merz stressed that both he and Trump agreed “on this war and how terrible this war is going on”, pointing to the US president as the “key person in the world” who would be able to stop the bloodshed.
But Merz also emphasised that Germany “was on the side of Ukraine” and that Kyiv was attacking only military targets, not Russian civilians.
“We are trying to get them stronger,” Merz said of Ukraine.
Thursday’s meeting marked the first time that the two leaders sat down in person. After exchanging pleasantries – Merz gave Trump a gold-framed birth certificate of the US president’s grandfather Friedrich Trump, who immigrated from Germany – the two leaders were to discuss issues such as Ukraine, trade and Nato spending.