Donald Trump launched into a word salad after he was asked about Vladimir Putin’s decision not to attend peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey.
The Russian leader had been set to meet face to face with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky this week for peace talks. However, Moscow announced on Thursday morning that Putin would not be attending the talks in Ankara.
In response, Zelensky suggested Russia was sending “stand-in props” to the talks instead.
At the same time, Donald Trump was in Qatar on his Middle East tour. When asked for his thoughts on Putin’s decision not to attend the peace talks in Turkey, the US president gave a rambling answer in which he claimed there would be no point Putin attending if he wasn’t there.
He told reporters: “Uhhh no, I didn’t anticipate, I actually said why would he go if I am not going. Because I wasn’t going to go. But I wasn’t planning to, but I would go. But I wasn’t planning to go and I said I don’t think he’s going to go if I don’t go. And that turned out to be right.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” he added.
Following the news of Putin’s absence from the talks, Zelensky’s office said in a statement that “Russia has unfortunately sent a rather low-level delegation with an unclear mandate to Turkey.”
In response to Zelensky’s “stand-in props” comment, Russia labelled him a “clown and a loser.”
The country’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said: “A clown and a loser is talking about respected people.”
Related: Donald Trump forgets to sign executive order at event for signing executive order