Trump says invasion of Ukraine is "Putin's mistake" but refuses to call him war criminal

Trump, who is running for president again, made the statement on Wednesday during a debate on CNN.

"He’s not a stupid person and he’s very cunning," Trump said in response to a question about whether he still considers Putin a smart man, as he had said earlier.

At the same time, Trump noted that Putin made a serious mistake.

"His mistake was going in [Ukraine - ed.]. He would have never gone in if I was president," the former White House chief said.

In response to the host's question whether Trump considers Putin a war criminal, he refrained from stating his belief about Putin being a war criminal but suggested that the matter “should be discussed later.”

He explained his position by saying that the focus should be on ending the war.

“If you say he’s a war criminal it’s going to be a lot tougher to make a deal to make this thing stopped," Trump added.

In this regard, he said that charges against Putin should be discussed later.

Earlier, former US President Donald Trump said that he would achieve peace in Ukraine in 24 hours by putting President Zelenskyy and Putin at the negotiating table. However, according to Trump, he needs the powers of the US President to do so.

• On May 4, Orban said that Trump should be returned to power in the UІ to end the war in Ukraine.