Vladimir Putin claims Ukraine war would never have begun if '2020 victory wasn’t stolen' from Trump

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Putin was trying to "manipulate" Trump, cautioning against any peace talks between the two.

The Russian president blamed a "stolen" US Election for the war, claiming that Trump’s leadership would have kept peace in the region intact.

Calling Trump "smart" and "pragmatic", Putin said: "I cannot but agree with him that if he had been President, if his victory had not been stolen from him in 2020, then perhaps there would not have been the crisis in Ukraine that arose in 2022."

He added: "I have a hard time imagining there will be decisions taken that are detrimental to the American economy."

Referring to negotiations, Putin emphasised that Russia was ready to discuss "Ukrainian issues".

Zelensky hit out at these comments, alleging that Putin was lying about wanting to end fighting and claiming that the Russian dictator is trying to manipulate world leaders including Trump.

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He said: "He wants to manipulate the desire of the President of the United States of America to achieve peace."

"I am confident that no Russian manipulations will succeed anymore."

Putin’s comments come as Trump doubled down on his claims that the Russia-Ukraine war would have ended within 24 hours had he been President at the time.

On Thursday, only days into his presidency, Trump declared he was seeking an urgent meeting with Putin, and said he would fly out to Russia if necessary.

The US President said: "From what I hear, Putin would like to see me, and we'll leave as soon as we can."

"I'd meet immediately. Every day we don't meet, soldiers are being killed in the battlefield."

That same day, Trump called the war "carnage" while addressing the conflict via video link during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He said: "And that's not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It's from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted…"

"It's a carnage. And we really have to stop that war."

Trump has pledged to make ending the war a top priority and has threatened Russia with new sanctions if it does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine.

Writing on Truth Social, the newly-elected President said: "I'm not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin."

He added: "All of that being said, I'm going to do Russia, whose economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big favour. Settle now, and stop this ridiculous war."

Trump said the war would only get worse, and said if a deal isn’t made soon he will have "no other choice" but to impose high taxes, tariffs and sanctions on anything sold by Russia to the US.

He ended by writing: "We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better. It's time to make a deal. No more lives should be lost."

However, the Kremlin did not seem phased by the warnings, claiming that sanctions were a common move used by Trump during his first term.

Despite Putin now saying he is willing to negotiate, his own Foreign Ministry recently accused the West of propping up an "illegitimate Kyiv regime".

Andrei Kartapolov, the Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister, previously dismissed Trump’s claims, saying: "Neither in 100 days, nor in 180 days will Trump solve and regulate the conflict in Ukraine."

"It will be done by the Russian army within the deadline set by its supreme commander-in-chief, our President Vladimir Putin."