Donald Trump is right when he says there would have been no conflict in Ukraine if he had been the President before the conflict started," Russian President Vladimir Putin said

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agrees with Donald Trump's claim that the war in Ukraine likely wouldn’t have happened if Trump had been in office before it began.

“He has said more than once that there would have been no war if he had been president. I think he’s right,” Putin remarked during a meeting with heads of international news agencies.

Recalling a phone conversation with then-U.S. President Joe Biden—under whose administration Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began—Putin said he had warned against allowing tensions to escalate into open conflict.

“I told him that things shouldn’t be allowed to reach the point of armed confrontation,” Putin said. “Everything should be resolved through peaceful means, and the current Ukrainian authorities should be compelled to meet the demands of their citizens in the southeast—end the genocide against the Russian-speaking population and stop the violations of human rights, which even the previous Ukrainian leadership used to acknowledge.”

Putin added, “I told him, ‘You think this is all going to be resolved so easily, but time may pass and you might find it would’ve been better not to push the situation this way.’”

“Maybe, if Trump had been president, this conflict could have been avoided,” Putin said. “It’s entirely possible.”