Politico reports:

Donald Trump blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — an escalation of a pattern of sympathetic rhetoric toward the war’s aggressor, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He should never have let that war start. The war’s a loser,” Trump said, referring to Zelenskyy, on a podcast with conservative commentator Patrick Bet-David published Thursday. The former president added that President Joe Biden had “instigated that war,” which he has repeatedly maintained “would never have happened” if he had been president.

In reality, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is more than a decade old. Back in 2014, Putin used disguised Russian troops and separatist forces to take over parts of eastern Ukraine as well as the Crimea region. The low-level fighting reached a new height in 2022, when the Kremlin chief launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Trump has demonstrated an increasingly friendly relationship with Putin over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month, he maintained that the war must end — but twice did not directly answer if he thought Ukraine should win.

And in a book released on Monday, journalist Bob Woodward reported that Trump had called Putin as many as seven times since leaving office and sent him Covid-19 tests for his private use while he was still president. Trump has not confirmed or denied the report. [Continue reading…]