Only I can fix it · Second term · № 49
Ukraine war 'would've never happened' if he were president
“A war that would've never happened if I were president, a shame.”
- Said
- , Address to the Knesset, Jerusalem
- Subject
- the Ukraine war
- Topic
- Ukraine & Russia
- Era
- Second term
What happened
During the campaign he said at least 53 times that he would end the war within 24 hours or before taking office; in April 2025 he told Time the day-one pledge was "said in jest." As of September 2026 the war, begun with Russia's February 2022 invasion, was in its fifth year. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on September 5, 2026 and Zelenskyy in Kyiv on September 6 with a three-day strike moratorium, after talks had stalled for six months during the Iran war; territory remained the main sticking point.