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President Donald Trump rated his closely-watched summit Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin a “10” out of 10 and touted “very good progress” in the road to peace in Ukraine, but said “there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” in an exclusive interview on “Hannity.”
“I can tell you, the meeting was a very warm meeting,” President Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “You know, he’s a strong guy, he’s tough as hell on all of that, but the meeting was a very warm meeting between two very important countries, and it’s very good when they get along. I think we’re pretty close to a deal. Now look, Ukraine has to agree to it.”
HILLARY CLINTON SAYS SHE’D NOMINATE TRUMP FOR NOBEL PRIZE IF HE BROKERS PEACE BETWEEN RUSSIA, UKRAINE
The two world leaders gathered in Alaska on Friday afternoon in hopes of peacefully working towards an end to the war in Ukraine. On Air Force One, President Trump said he was meeting with the Russian leader to “save a lot of lives” and expressed hopes for a ceasefire in the future. The commander-in-chief later reported the summit was “extremely productive,” but that they were “not there yet” on ending the conflict.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say,” Trump told the press following the meeting. “A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway. So, there’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed similar sentiments, adding the summit was a “constructive atmosphere of mutual respect.”
Trump told “Hannity” the leaders “spoke very sincerely,” and he thinks Putin “wants to see it [a deal] done.”
The next steps in peace talks include calls between President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other NATO leaders. Trump told “Hannity” he would advise Zelenskyy to “make a deal.”
“They’re fighting a big war machine, and we, I think, are close to a deal, but I don’t like saying it. I always say, if I’m really close, I say 50-50 because so many things can happen. But I think President Putin would like to solve the problem, and it was a problem that should have never happened. This was a war. All of those families have lost somebody, and I have a book of thousands of people. They presented me with it today. Thousands of people, prisoners, that will get released. “
Trump revealed that he is willing to be at a peace meeting between the Putin and Zelenskyy.
“Now, it’s really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done, and I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelenskyy … and if they’d like, I’ll be at that next meeting,” he said. “They’re going to set up a meeting now between President Zelenskyy and President Putin and myself, I guess. You know, I didn’t ask about it … but I want to make sure it gets done and we have a pretty good chance of getting it done.”
Putin stated during the press conference that he “can confirm” President Trump’s previous statements that a war would not have broken out under the Trump administration. Trump told Fox News he believes it happened under the Biden administration due to “gross incompetence.”
“I love seeing this country be great again and Vladimir said just a little while ago, he said, ‘I’ve never seen anybody do so much so fast.’ He said, ‘Your country is like… hot as a pistol,’ and a year ago, he thought it was dead. Everybody thought it was dead,” Trump said.
Ultimately, the president stressed the importance of finding an end to the conflict for the sake of the people.
“If we get this solved, it’s a really big day because we’re going to save a lot of lives,” he said.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
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