Trump: Ukraine was 'apple of Putin's eye,' what happened is terrible

16:54, 21.01.2026 1 min read

US President Donald Trump said that he discussed Ukraine with Vladimir Putin, it was the "apple of his eye", and the war that happened is terrible.

Trump said he had also inherited "a mess with Ukraine and Russia," something that would never have happened. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, he said he knew Putin very well and that they had discussed Ukraine, which he described as Putin’s "apple of his eye." Trump said Putin was not going to do anything, adding that what happened was "terrible."

The U.S. president also said he had been working for more than a year to resolve the war in Ukraine and stressed that Europe must take the lead on the issue.

Trump said European countries needed to work on Ukraine, while the United States did not, adding that the two were separated by a large ocean and that the United States had nothing to do with it.