Former President Donald Trump admitted that he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was merely trying to ‘negotiate’ when he moved soldiers to the Ukraine border, and that he was ‘surprised’ when Putin invaded the country.

‘I’m surprised — I’m surprised. I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating,’ During a Tuesday evening phone interview from his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump told the Washington Examiner. ‘I thought it was a tough way to negotiate but a smart way to negotiate.’

Donald Trump, who appeared to have formed a solid working relationship with Moscow during his presidency, claimed Putin has ‘very much changed’ since they last collaborated.

‘I figured he was going to make a good deal like everybody else does with the United States and the other people they tend to deal with — you know, like every trade deal. We’ve never made a good trade deal until I came along,’ Trump said. ‘And then he went in — and I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed.’

The former US president has been chastised for his connection with Putin, as well as for neglecting to rebuke him in the aftermath of the invasion.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and former White House national security advisor Robert C. O’Brien, among Trump’s Republican colleagues, have publicly criticised Putin and stated there would be no pity for Putin sympathisers in their party.

Democrat President Joe Biden, however, dubbed Putin a “tyrant” and retaliated with diplomatic and economic penalties in response to his invasion.

Donald Trump denied on Tuesday that he was soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming that if he were still in power, Moscow would never have invaded Ukraine.

‘I’ve been very, very tough on Putin. I get a bad rap on that,’ Trump told the news outlet. ‘At the same time, I got along with him very well. But I got along with most [world leaders] very well.’

While in power, the millionaire ex-president also claimed that he frequently opposed Putin’s policies.

‘When you think of it, who was tougher on Russia than me?’ Trump asked, before adding: ‘I got billions and billions of dollars’ for NATO.

‘Now, all that money is going against Russia, so I did that. I closed the pipeline. You know, the pipeline was closed, and Biden opened it. Plus, I did the biggest sanctions anybody’s ever done on Russia,’ he said.

‘I’ve been very critical of Putin from the standpoint of the pipeline, from the standpoint of raising billions and billions of dollars in NATO to protect, primarily, Europe against Russia. Nobody else did that.’

On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, launching the heaviest attack on a European country since World War II concluded in 1945.

Early Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said peace talks were sounding more possible, but that leaders still needed more time. Officials are optimistic that the conflict will come to a conclusion sooner than planned, probably in May.

‘The meetings continue, and, I am informed, the positions during the negotiations already sound more realistic. But time is still needed for the decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine,’ Zelensky said in a video address on Wednesday.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said it was too early to forecast progress in the discussions, noting: ‘The work is difficult, and in the current situation the very fact that (the talks) are continuing is probably positive.’

Biden will visit NATO’s headquarters in Brussels on March 24 for his first visit to Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine to discuss the problem, according to the White House. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to announce an additional $800 million in security aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian air attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, killed five people on Tuesday, setting buildings ablaze and burying people under rubble. Russia denies that civilians are being targeted.

According to the United Nations, over 3 million people have fled Ukraine, with over 1.8 million coming in Poland.

Trump’s remark on Tuesday night comes only days after he slammed Biden as a liar. ‘physically and mentally challenged’ During a rally in South Carolina, Trump took aim at President Barack Obama’s foreign policy for the first time since Russia seized Ukraine.

‘You could take the five worst presidents in American history and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done in just 13 months. We have a president representing our country at the most important time in history, who is physically and mentally challenged,’ Trump said on Saturday night.

He claimed Biden ‘failed to deter Russia’s outrageous invasion of Ukraine,’ and that if he had been president, he could have stopped Putin from going to war.

‘The fake news said my personality got us into a war. “I’m telling you, that guy’s going to get us into a war.” But actually, my personality is what kept us out of war. I was the only president in nearly four decades who did not get America into any new conflicts.’ Donald Trump claimed.

Donald Trump referred to Putin’s invasion as a “terrible atrocity,” but did not identify the despot. The rebuke is a far cry from his widely panned statements last month in which he referred to Russia’s strategy as “genius.”

‘The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a terrible atrocity that should never have been allowed to happen or would have never happened. I know I speak for everyone here tonight. When I say we are praying for the proud people of Ukraine. They are going through hell,’ he said. ‘Make no mistake, however, that Russia would not have dared to annex one inch of territory. If I was in the White House. In fact, they never did it when I was there.’

During Saturday’s rally, Trump did, however, refer to Putin’s leader as being “driven” in his attack.

‘And for all the talk about violent conflict in Eastern Europe, and it’s a terrible thing, and we’re gonna help and we’re gonna do whatever we can because nobody can look at the bloodshed much longer what’s happening,’ Trump said.

‘It’s a lack of respect for a lot of people, a lot of things but it’s just a total lack of respect. And it happens to be a man that is just driven. He’s driven to put it together and you look at it and it’s just so ridiculous and so senseless and so horrible.’

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