Russia and Putin · Second term · № 110
Said he told Putin it might be better to let Russia and Ukraine "fight for a while"
“Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart. And I gave that analogy to Putin yesterday.”
- Said
- , Oval Office meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany
- Subject
- "Let them fight" remark
- Type
- Ukraine
- Topic
- Ukraine & Russia
- Era
- Second term
What happened
Trump spoke to Putin on June 4, 2025, days after Operation Spider's Web, a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian air bases that Zelensky said damaged or destroyed 41 aircraft. Trump wrote afterward that it was "not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace" and relayed that Putin "did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields." The next day, asked whether he would put more sanctions on Russia and whether he had a deadline, he compared the two countries to children fighting in a park and said the deadline was "in my brain." He said sanctions "could be on both countries." NPR reported that he said he had not looked at a bipartisan Senate bill to impose sanctions on Moscow. Merz told him the United States was in a strong position to help end the war.
Sources
- Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany and an Exchange With Reporters
- Truth Social Posts of June 4, 2025
- Trump says it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while'
- Trump compares Ukraine-Russia war to children’s brawl: ‘Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight’
- Are the surprise airfield attacks a turning point for Ukraine?