The US president said at the NATO summit on Wednesday that negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine have proved trickier than people thought, and that Putin is "more difficult" than expected.
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US President Donald Trump has touted the possibility that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin may invade other countries following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine during a press conference at the NATO summit in the Hague on Wednesday.
Trump was asked whether he considered Putin an enemy and if he believed the Russian leader had territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine. "It's possible", Trump replied.
"I consider him a person who I think is misguided," the US president said.
Trump also said Putin called him to offer help in settling the recent Middle East conflict and to act as an interlocutor between the US, Israel and Iran.
"He called the other day (and) said: 'Can I help you with Iran?' I said no, you can help me with Russia," said Trump.
The US president has previously indicated he's in regular contact with Putin especially over Ukraine.
"I know one thing. He would like to settle. He would like to get out of this. It's a mess for him. I said: 'You help me get a settlement with you,' and I think we're going to be doing that soon," Trump told reporters.
Ahead of his second term in the White House, Trump announced he would negotiate an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours, but he told reporters at the NATO summit that he was being sarcastic.
He said the negotiations are "more difficult that anyone had thought", and that "Putin is more difficult".
Trump also said he had a "good" meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the margins of the summit.
Trump said he would "see" if the US could supply Ukraine with Patriot air defence systems in future.
All 32 NATO allies agreed to increase spending on defence to 5% of GDP within 10 years at the two-day summit in the Hague.
Trump said this was a "big win" for the US and the West.