1 of 2 | President Trump gives remarks on AI Infrastructure in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Trump is giving a virtual address at the World Economic Forum on Thursday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI |
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Jan. 23 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower oil prices during the World Economic Forum on Thursday, saying it would immediately end the war in Ukraine.
The president, appearing virtually to the forum in Davos, Switzerland, called the war between Ukraine and Russia a war that "never should have happened." He said that lowering oil prices could end the war "immediately."
"I'm also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil, which, frankly, I'm surprised they didn't do before the election." he said "That didn't show a lot of love by them not doing it. I was a little surprised by that. They are very responsible to some extent for what's taking place."
Trump said throughout his campaign that he would seek to end the war in Ukraine. In Thursday's forum he said he hopes to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon about bringing the war to an end. He added that he hopes China can help stop the war.
"I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon and get that war ended," Trump said. "And that's not from the standpoint of the economy or anything else. It's from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted."
Denuclearization in China and Russia was also among the goals Trump discussed during his appearance. He said he was discussing it with Putin before the 2020 election.
"President Putin really liked the idea of cutting way back on nuclear," Trump said. "I think the rest of the world, we would have gotten them to follow. China would have come along."
Asked by World Economic Forum President and CEO Borge Brende if there will be a deal to end the war by the time the forum meets in January 2026, Trump said, "You're going to have to ask Russia."
"Ukraine is ready to make a deal," Trump said. "This is a war that should have never ever been started. I knew that it was the apple of President Putin's eye but I also knew that there was no way he was going in and he wasn't going to go in. Then when I was out bad things happened."
On Wednesday, Trump warned that the United States would impose sanctions against Russia if Putin did not reach a deal to end the war.
Trump claimed that millions of Ukrainian and millions of Russian soldiers have been killed in the war. In December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 43,000 troops had been killed among his defense forces. About 800,000 Russian troops have been killed, according to Ukraine's official website.
"Far more people have died than what's being reported," Trump said. "You're going to find that many more people were killed in the Ukraine war than anybody has any idea."
Saudi Arabia received some praise from Trump for its investments in America. He said he intends to ask Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud to increase investments from $600 billion to $1 trillion over the coming four years.
"I think they'll do that because we've been good to them," Trump said.
Trump also plans to call on NATO members to increase their defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product, a level of investment he said should have been committed to years ago.
Trump joined the forum at 11 a.m. EST. The address was followed by Brende. Questions were asked by leaders of large financial firms Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Santander Group Executive Chairwoman Ana Patricia Botin.
In his exchange with Moynihan, Trump claimed without evidence that Bank of America does not accept business from conservatives, suggesting former President Joe Biden may have been involved in this. Moynihan was not given the time to respond.
The president was also critical of the European Union over its regulations and processes for approving business dealings among its member states. He said the European Union has taken, "in a form of taxation," billions of dollars from Apple, Google and Facebook. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg were on stage for Trump's inauguration ceremony on Monday.
Trump called on global businesses to do business in the United States, urging that their products will be subject to tariffs if produced internationally. Domestically, he called on interest rates to "drop immediately."
The forum is held annually in Davos, Switzerland. It brings together world leaders in government, business and academics to discuss matters relating to the global economy.
The president has a long, adversarial history with international organizations. He has announced the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Treaty, threatened to pull the United States out of NATO and been critical of the United Nations.
Other notable appearances set for the World Economic Forum on Thursday include Argentinian President Javier Milei -- days after attending Trump's inauguration -- and Muhammad Yunus, interim leader of Bangladesh.