US President Donald Trump has revealed he was "disappointed" to hear that Ukraine had complained about being cut out of talks between the United States and Russia in Saudi Arabia on ending the war.
"I'm very disappointed. I hear that they're upset about not having a seat, well they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that," Mr Trump told reporters at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago when asked what he would say to Ukrainians who feel "betrayed".
"I think I have the power to end this war," he added, after saying he was "much more confident" of a deal with Russia following Tuesday's talks in Saudi Arabia.
"Russia wants to do something, they want to stop the savage, barbarism … What's going on over there, soldiers are being killed by the thousands on a weekly basis, it's ridiculous," Mr Trump said.
"We want to end it. It's a senseless war. It should have never happened."
Mr Trump also said that he would be comfortable allowing European peacekeeping troops to be deployed to Ukraine to maintain any future ceasefire or deal to end fighting with Russia.
Asked how he would respond to Ukrainians who felt "betrayed" about not being involved in diplomatic talks between the US and Russia, Mr Trump said Ukraine could have made a deal with Moscow three years ago to avoid the bloodshed seen in the war.
"This could've been settled very easily, just a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without the loss of much land, very little land, without the loss of any lives, without the loss of cities that are just laying on their sides," he said.
"When they're worried about not being seated, somebody should've gone in and made a deal a long time ago."
The president also took aim at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he was leading his country under "essentially martial law" and his popularity among Ukrainian citizens has dropped to "four per cent".
"You have cities that are absolutely decimated and I would say if they want a seat at the table, wouldn't people of Ukraine have to say: 'Its been a long time since we've had an election?'
"That's not a Russia thing, that's something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.
"Ukraine is just being wiped out."
The president's comments came after a four-hour gathering in Riyadh, which marked the first time US and Russian officials had sat down to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left those discussions saying he felt convinced that Moscow was "willing to begin to engage in a serious process to determine how quickly, and through what mechanism, can an end be brought to this war".
The US delegation said negotiations would include discussions about territory and security guarantees for Ukraine.
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy has said previously that Kyiv would not accept any deal imposed on it without its consent.
ABC/AFP
