Russian President Vladimir Putin — an ex-KGB agent and master manipulator — attempted to woo President Trump on stage, claiming he would not have invaded Ukraine if former President Biden hadn’t been in office.
”I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during the last contact with the previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague the situation should not be brought to the point of no return when it would come to hostilities,” Putin said following his meeting with Trump. “And I said it quite directly back then.
”That’s is a big mistake today, when President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then, there will be no war — and I’m quite sure that it would indeed be, so I can confirm that.”
Trained in strategic communications during his time as a KGB agent for the Soviet Union, Putin is known for attempting to manipulate world leaders with flattery.
”I think that, overall, me and President Trump have built a very good business-like [relationship],” he added.
Trump has often said that he believed Putin would not have invaded if he were president in 2022, but he did not appear to take the dictator’s bait Friday.
While he called Putin’s nine-minute pre-written speech “profound,” Trump did not mention his longstanding talking point after the Russian leader’s assertion.
Instead, Trump subtly reminded Putin that he would not be making any business deals with Russia until the Kremlin ends its three-year war on Ukraine, pointing out the US’ leverage.
“We … have some tremendous Russian business representatives here, and I think everybody wants to deal with us. We’ve become the hottest country anywhere in the world in a very short period of time,” he said. “We look forward to dealing — we’re going to try and get this over with.
“… We’ll have a good chance when this is over.”
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