U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the Oval Office, where one of the main topics of discussion was the dire situation in Ukraine. The President expressed concern about developments there but remained optimistic about the possibility of ending the bloodshed.
“It’s not good. He [Merz] is not happy about it. I’m not happy either, but I think eventually we’ll be successful in stopping the bloodshed,” Trump told reporters.
Chancellor Merz, on his part, thanked the American president for the warm reception and recalled that his first visit to the White House was in 1982. Before the meeting began, he gifted Trump a framed birth certificate of Trump’s grandfather, Frederick Trump, who was born in Germany.
Asked about the possibility of imposing new sanctions on Russia, Trump was direct:
“We’re going to be very tough—whether it’s on Russia or anyone else—we’ll be very tough. What’s happening there is a massacre.”
The U.S. President also stated that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about recent developments. According to Trump, Putin claimed that Russia had “no other choice” but to launch attacks in response to Ukrainian offensives within Russian territory.
“And maybe it won’t be pretty. I don’t like it. I said, ‘Don’t do it, you shouldn’t do it, you need to stop it.’ But still, there is a lot of hatred,” Trump concluded.
