U.S. President Donald Trump answered questions from reporters while leaving the White House before his trip to Tennessee to support Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections.
Regarding a question about the possibility that the diesel agreement between the U.S. and Russia might prolong the war, Trump said, "I look at this differently. (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy has had many opportunities to reach peace, but he chose not to do so.
Zelenskyy could have ended the war many times, but he chose not to. We told Russia, you can do what you want. We only said, ‘Don’t hit the refineries, because that causes problems globally.’ Zelenskyy wants to cause problems for the world. He wants to cause problems for our farmers and livestock producers through diesel fuel. Because Russia supplies a large portion of the world's diesel fuel," he stated.
"It would be better for him to stop"
The U.S. President said, "We told Zelenskyy, do what you want, but don’t target diesel fuel, because that is a big problem. So what did he do? He went and targeted diesel fuel. He can do what he wants, but he cannot do that. This is causing a global problem due to the shortage of diesel fuel refineries. I told Zelenskyy, do whatever you want but don’t hit (Russia’s) diesel refineries, but he hit them anyway. It would be better for him to stop," he said. Trump stated that they would not allow Ukraine's attacks on refineries in Russia to negatively affect American farmers, livestock producers, and the rest of the world.
"I think it is time for Ukraine to elect a new president"
When a reporter remarked that "the Ukrainian people are the target of daily rocket attacks from Russia," Trump replied, "I agree with you. Do you know what my suggestion is? I suggest they elect a leader who can make a deal. Because (Zelenskyy) could have made many deals, but for some reason, he didn't make any of them."
Trump said, "If I were president, this war would never have started, and you wouldn't have already lost 30 percent of your country. More than 1 million people have died. In total, more than 2 million people have died on both sides. This was a war that should never have started. I think it is time for Ukraine to elect a new president."
"We might participate in attacks against the Houthis"
When asked whether they would participate in Saudi Arabia's attacks against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, Trump replied, "We might, we will consider it."
Referring to the attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Trump said, "We just heard about the latest attack. So we will make a decision. We move very quickly."
Regarding a question about the live broadcast of the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former major in the U.S. Army who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, Trump said, "There are two different views on this. He is a ruthless killer. He killed 13 people in cold blood and wounded more than 20. There are two different views on broadcasting the execution live. You know, if you broadcast it, maybe other people won't do what he did. I will make the final decision."
"They gave the Nobel Peace Prize to someone nobody has even heard of"
Evaluating the criticism by South African International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, who is this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, regarding the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Trump said, "There is an interesting point. I ended 8 wars. I brought back all the (Israeli) hostages. I brought back more than 300 hostages from other countries. I stopped China, I stopped Taiwan. This issue is ongoing and who knows what will happen, but I stopped it and prevented many things from happening. I ended 8 wars that were really flaring up. Then they gave the Nobel (Peace) Prize to someone nobody has even heard of. I hadn't heard of her before. No one I know has heard of her. All we know is that she is anti-Israel, and they gave her the Nobel Prize. There is something wrong in Norway," he said.
When asked whether he would accept the results of the midterm elections regardless of the outcome, U.S. President Trump replied, "Of course I will accept them, but we don't want cheating."
News Source: 12punto
