'Let them fight for a while': Trump's odd take on Russia-Ukraine war

President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, even as Germany's new Chancellor appealed to him as the “key person in the world” who could halt the bloodshed by pressuring Vladimir Putin.

In an Oval Office meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the U.S. President likened the war in Ukraine — which Russia invaded in February 2022 — to a fight between two children who hate each other. Mr. Trump said that with children, “sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart," adding that he relayed the analogy to Mr. Putin in a call this week.

“I said, ‘President, maybe you’re going to have to keep fighting and suffering a lot,' because both sides are suffering before you pull them apart, before they’re able to be pulled apart," Mr. Trump said. “You see in hockey, you see it in sports. The referees let them go for a couple of seconds, let them go for a little while before you pull them apart.”