Ukraine takes center stage at Oval Office

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it might be better to let Russia and Ukraine keep on fighting for a while despite German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's call for more US pressure on Russia.

When meeting with Merz at the White House, Trump said that the "bad blood" and "hatred" between the two sides would make it hard to reach a ceasefire any time soon, marking a shift from his earlier proclamation that the conflict would end quickly.

In the Oval Office meeting, the US president likened the fighting in Ukraine to a fight between two children who hate each other. Trump said that with children, "sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart", adding that he relayed the analogy to Putin in a call earlier this week.

"They fight, fight, fight," Trump said. "Sometimes you let them fight for a little while."

Asked about the comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Here, of course, the US president may have his own point of view on what is happening, but for us this is an existential question, this is a question of our national interests."

The comments were a remarkable detour from Trump's often-stated appeals to stop the conflict.

Merz emphasized that the US and Germany both agree on "how terrible this war is". "We are both looking for ways to stop it very soon," Merz said in the Oval Office. "I told the president before we came in that he is the key person in the world who can really do that now by putting pressure on Russia."

On new sanctions on Russia, Trump said on Thursday that nothing was imminent. However, he hinted he might sanction both Russia and Ukraine because "it takes two to tango".

"When I see the moment when it's not going to stop, we'll be very tough," Trump said. "And it could be on both countries."

Peace remains elusive

Recent diplomacy did not stop the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow. Reuters reporters said that Russia mounted an intense and sustained barrage of Kyiv overnight, with missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, where there was a succession of large explosions.

Kyiv's military administration said three people were killed in the attacks. Nationwide, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 49 people had been injured in the attacks.

"If someone does not put pressure and gives the war more time to take lives, they are complicit and responsible. We need to act decisively," Zelensky wrote on social media.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday that its overnight strikes were in response to "Ukrainian terrorist acts" against Russia.

Russia has accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bomb attack on a bridge over a railway line in western Russia at the weekend that was blown up just as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath.

Thursday's meeting between Merz and Trump was the first time the two leaders sat down in person. Trump and Merz began by exchanging pleasantries — Merz gave Trump a gold-framed birth certificate of the US president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany, to the US. Trump called the chancellor a "very good man to deal with".

Merz said on Friday just hours after returning from his inaugural visit to Washington, that Germany will remain dependent on the United States "for a long time to come".

"Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States, on America, for a long time to come," Merz said in a speech during a family entrepreneurs' event.

Xinhua - Agencies