Former US President Donald Trump has warned that President Joe Biden’s handling of the Ukraine conflict could lead to a global conflict.
Trump warned in a speech at a religious conservative conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday that the lavish military aid provided to Kiev by Washington could result in the conflict turning into World War III.
“We have a war in Ukraine... and perhaps it’s going to lead to World War III because of the way we’re handling it,” Trump said.
“We just gave $40 billion on top of another $16 billion. So, we’re in for $56 billion,” he said regarding the aid packages the administration of US President Joe Biden has already approved for Ukraine amid the war with Russia.
“But when you look at Europe – and Germany, and France and all these other countries – they’ve given a tiny fraction, a tiny, tiny fraction of what we’re giving. We’re giving $56 billion and they’re giving a few billion dollars. And they’re the ones who are affected much more so,” he said.
Last month, the US Senate approved more than $40 billion in new “aid” for Ukraine, which has been the site of a Russian military operation since February. Later, Biden signed the bill that provides the aid for Ukraine, in a move that prioritizes assistance for Kiev in over fight against the coronavirus in the world's worst-hit country.
The package brought the total US aid that Congress has approved for Ukraine this year to nearly $54 billion.
Ukraine has been at war with Russia since President Vladimir Putin declared a military operation in the neighboring country in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Trump has said that American leaders are very "dumb" while Russian President Vladimir Putin is “smart.”
He went on to blame the Biden administration for Russia’s decision to launch military actions in Ukraine.
Trump has also denounced Biden’s “weakness, cowardice and incompetence” in ending the Ukraine conflict, and warned that “this could lead to World War III.”
Trump said on March 13 that “there is still a path for him to end this tragedy without getting Americans snared into a gruesome and very bloody war.”
On Friday, Trump once again blamed the conflict on Biden, insisting that “if I were president that would never have happened.”
“And I got to know Putin very well and we talked about it… he knew the consequences were going to be tremendous. He understood that and he would have never ever done it,” the former president insisted.
“If the election weren’t rigged and stolen, we wouldn’t have had any problems with Ukraine being attacked viciously,” he said.