"Putin has made a lot of progress": Trump talks about his meeting with Zelenskyy

US presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he "likes" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Republican Party representative also reiterated his statement that if he were in charge of America, Vladimir Putin "would’ve never gone into Ukraine" and there would be no war.

In a new interview published by The Washington Post, Trump boasted that during his time in the White House, the Kremlin dictator "didn't take anything. " Putin allegedly began to think about invading Ukraine after Joe Biden's withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021.

According to the politician, Russia has made significant progress in its unprovoked war against Ukraine.

"The problem is, now it’s a much different situation because [Putin has] lost a lot of men, but he’s made a lot of progress. You know, he has taken over large portions of that country," he said.

The Republican emphasized that he still believes that the main problem is that Europe is not investing in NATO on an equal footing with the United States.

"And one of the biggest problems I have is that Europe — as they did with NATO before I came along — Europe skates. Europe should be putting the same money as us. Europe is a similar size. The economy, if you add them all up, it’s a similar size," the presidential candidate complained.

Commenting on his meeting with Zelenskyy at Trump Tower in New York, he assured the interviewer that he was treating him well.

The author of the interview (by the way, noticeably complimentary), American writer and journalist Mark Thiessen, said, "Many on the anti-Ukraine right believe Trump shares their hostility toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But Trump told me he likes Zelensky."

"I had a good relationship with Zelensky. I like him. Because during the impeachment hoax … he could have said he didn’t know the [conversation] was taped. … But instead of grandstanding and saying, ‘Yes, I felt threatened,’ he said, ‘He did absolutely nothing wrong," the Republican said of the Ukrainian leader.

The interviewer also mentioned Trump's intentions (voiced publicly last July) to provide Ukraine with much more aid than ever before if Putin does not agree to a peace deal.

The US presidential candidate praised this idea of his. "I did say that, so I can say it to you. But I did say that and nobody picked it up. They don’t because it makes so much sense," Trump said.

As reported, Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently called his meeting with Donald Trump "very productive and important." The American politician told him that "he will be on our side, he will support Ukraine."

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