Trump says Russia and Ukraine are like 'two children fighting', suggests that war should continue 'for a while'

US President Donald Trump has said that it is better to let Russia and Ukraine “fight for a while” than seek peace immediately, as the two sides intensify attacks against each other, pushing away chances of negotiations even further.

Trump’s comments came during the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to the Oval Office on Thursday. Voicing his doubts about a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said, “Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.”

Trump said that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that both countries are acting like two young children fighting like crazy in a park”.

Putin threatens Kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened a major response to Ukraine’s drone attack on the country’s airbases during a phone call with his American counterpart, Donald Trump. The US president said that Putin is not ready for “immediate peace” after Kyiv attacked its bombers, the largest such counteroffensive in years.

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Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would respond to the attack “how and when our military deems it appropriate.” Just hours after Trump and Putin held a conversation, Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine overnight. In the northern city of Pryluky, a drone strike on a residential building killed at least five people, including a one-year-old boy, his mother, and grandmother.

“One of the rescuers arrived to respond to the aftermath right at his own home. It turned out that a Shahed drone hit his house,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Is Russia planning major advances?

A Ukrainian military officer told the United States on Wednesday that Russian forces are preparing major advances into next year, including aiming to cut off Black Sea access, as Kyiv pushes for stronger pressure against Moscow.

A senior Ukrainian delegation was visiting Washington just as Trump said that his Russian counterpart Putin warned him by telephone of major retaliation over a daring Ukraine drone strike deep into Russia.

Colonel Pavlo Palisa, who served on the frontlines until President Volodymyr Zelensky in November named him as deputy head of the president’s office, presented what he said were findings from Ukrainian military intelligence.

With inputs from agencies