[thenry]

Donald Trump is now asked about what it's like to negotiate with Vladimir Putin.

"He's a very smart guy, he's a very cunning person," Trump tells reporters.

"I've dealt with some really bad people but I will tell you as far as this is concerned, he had no intention, in my opinion, of settling this war.

"I think he wanted the whole thing when I got elected, we spoke, and I think we're going to have a deal."

Trump goes on to say that if he didn't get elected, "I believe he [Putin] would have just continued to go through Ukraine".

He adds: "Over a period of time, a lot of people would have been killed."

Turning to NATO, Trump says: "You can forget about it. That's probably the reason the whole thing started."

https://news.sky.com/story/trump-put...#liveblog-body

Thank you for clarity President Trump

Back to Donald Trump's cabinet meeting now, where he has been asked about the type of security guarantees he is willing to make with Ukraine.

"I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much," he says.

"We're going to have Europe do that because... we're talking about Europe is their next door neighbour, but we're making sure everything goes well."

Trump turns back to the minerals deal with Ukraine, after telling his cabinet that Volodymyr Zelenksyy will visit the US on Friday (see our 4.50pm post).

"The deal we're making brings us great wealth," Trump adds.

"We get back the money that we spent, and we hope that we're going to be able to settle this up."

Trump goes on to say it is a "great deal for Ukraine too", suggesting there will be "automatic security" because "nobody's going to be messing around with people when we're there".

https://news.sky.com/story/trump-put...#liveblog-body

Oh some logic. Europe can pull their finger out. The sanctions are really scaring Russia