Trump defends Putin talks: Says U.S. no longer a laughingstock
Donald Trump commented on another phone conversation with Vladimir Putin. According to the American president, only now is the Russian leader taking the words of U.S. leaders seriously. "We were a laughingstock, an absolute laughingstock. But we are no longer," Trump said.
Efforts to initiate peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are ongoing, with the Trump administration involved in these talks. The U.S. President is accused of placing great trust in Vladimir Putin and being overly accommodating to the Russian leader.
Evidence of this includes the Ukrainian-Russian memorandum that Trump "negotiated" during phone conversations with the Russian president. Ukrainian politicians remain uncertain about the direction the memorandum talks should take or what the Kremlin aims to achieve through these discussions.
Trump himself is confident he is on the right path. The U.S. President appears satisfied with his efforts. In a conversation with journalists, he admitted that not so long ago, the United States was a "laughingstock." According to him, that is no longer the case.
We were a laughing stock, an absolute laughing stock, but we're not a laughing stock any longer. And, as I said, I was talking to president Putin for two and a half hours. That was being very seriously listened to - Trump said.
The U.S. President added that "the United States does not like what is happening," but did not specify the exact issues he was referring to. He also mentioned that the U.S. should have never been involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
We don't like what's happening. We don't like that we should have ever been involved. It would have never happened. But we're respected again as a country - Trump stated in a conversation with journalists at the White House.
