The comments explicitly blame the ongoing war on Moscow, as Russian energy revenues are funding its war chest, and are the latest indication of Trump’s evolving perspective on the conflict and warming of relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It comes after Trump on Tuesday told reporters that “Zelenskyy told me he wants to make a deal.” But, he added in the Oval Office on the first day of his second presidency, “I don’t know if Putin does … He might not. I think he should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,” a reference to the country’s failing economy and inflation.
Zelenskyy, for his part, has repeatedly reached out to the Trump administration to make the case that it is Moscow, not Kyiv, which stands in the way of a peace deal — a message Trump has clearly heard.
In his own address at Davos on Tuesday, Zelenskyy also sought to appeal to Trump by echoing some of his talking points about the need for Europe to “step up” and be responsible for its own security, and backed the 5 percent NATO spending target.
Trump also said he would guarantee security of supply of liquefied natural gas to Europe. “Yes I would. I would make sure that you get it. If we make a deal, we make a deal. You’ll get it.”
The U.S. is already the European Union’s second-largest gas partner and largest LNG supplier, after Russia cut off supplies following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But Trump has little power to boost exports in the short term, and potential trade friction between the U.S. and EU could affect gas supplies.
