Trump was exaggerating – Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov has expressed skepticism over the US president-elect’s repeated claims he could end the Ukraine conflict overnight

US President-elect Donald Trump was apparently exaggerating when on the campaign trail he vowed to end the Ukraine conflict within “24 hours,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said. The official also noted that it would be premature to make any predictions before the Republican assumes office in January 2025.

While the GOP firebrand has repeatedly claimed that he would be able to put an end to the bloodshed in short order, he has refused to provide any specifics. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has suggested that the conflict could be frozen along the current front line, with Kiev forced to relinquish its claim to the territories held by Moscow and also its NATO aspirations.

Speaking to the press on Thursday, the Kremlin spokesperson said that “of course, it was an exaggeration of sorts when [Trump] was saying that he would do it overnight,” referring to Trump’s promises to achieve peace in Ukraine quickly.

“If the new [US] administration seeks peace rather than a continuation of the conflict, it will be better than the previous one,” Peskov added.

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He noted, however, that it is still too early to venture any prognosis on how the US president-elect would actually handle the Ukraine conflict once he has been inaugurated.

Commenting on Trump’s remarks last month, Peskov said that he did not “think there is a magic wand” that could stop the hostilities overnight.

Speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin said that Trump’s professed desire to end the Ukraine conflict “deserves attention, at the very least.”