Russian President Vladimir Putin is destroying Russia, President Donald Trump said following his inauguration.
Trump is hoping to get Ukraine and Russia to agree to a deal to end the yearslong war.
"[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy told me he wants to make a deal, I don't know if Putin does ... He might not," Trump told reporters. "I think he should make a deal. I think he's destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think, Russia is kinda in big trouble. You take a look at their economy, you take a look at their inflation in Russia. I got along with [Putin] great, I would hope he wants to make a deal."
Trump said he believes Putin is not happy with Russia's slow progress in the war, which began three years ago when the country invaded Ukraine.
"He's grinding it out. Most people thought it would last about one week and now you're into three years. It is not making him look good," Trump said. "We have numbers that almost a million Russian soldiers have been killed. About 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers are killed. Russia's bigger, they have more soldiers to lose but that's no way to run a country."
In December, Zelenskyy said 43,000 soldiers have been killed while 370,000 have been wounded.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.