In a speech to the World Economic Forum, President Donald Trump was masterful in making clear his iron-will determination to end Russia's nearly three-year-old war against Ukraine, Ric Grenell told Newsmax on Thursday.
"I really would like to be able to meet with President [Vladimir] Putin soon and get that war ended, and that's not from the standpoint of economy or anything else," Trump said during his speech, which was made via video link, to the WEF in Davos, Switzeraland. "It's from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted. Beautiful, young people are being shot in the battlefield.
"And we really have to stop that war … so many young people being killed in this war, and that's not including the people that have been killed as the cities are being knocked down building by building. So, we really should get that stopped."
Grenell is Trump's envoy for special missions who was acting director of national intelligence and ambassador to Germany in Trump's first administration. He told "Rob Schmitt Tonight" that it was refreshing to see Trump trying to find a peaceful solution after the Biden administration did little on that front.
"Remember, this is in the context of a room full of people there in Davos that have really been cheerleaders for a war," Grenell said. "We haven't had people talk about peace, demand peace, push forward peace agreements. It's all been war, and how much money are you giving to the war effort.
"So, Donald Trump just came in and said, 'We've got to end this. This is a lot of killing. We're going to end this war.' I think people in Europe are tired of having a war on their doorstep. And, yes, they want Ukraine to win, and they're afraid of a march toward them from Russia. But Donald Trump made it clear that he is in charge and that the United States of America, the superpower of the world, is back on the stage."
Grenell said Trump has made it clear to Putin that there will face economic consequences if a peace deal is not reached.
"There was a lot of relief in that room that Donald Trump wants to solve the war, and he articulated a very tough stance for Putin, saying to Vladimir Putin, 'You need to solve this war,'" Grenell said. "There's a lot of killing going on, and it will get worse if you don't solve this. … Everybody in that room knows there will be consequences from Donald Trump if this is not solved."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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