DON'S DEAL
Trump says he’d ‘love’ to have Russia back in G7 after Putin call as Zelensky urges world leaders not to trust despot
Watch Trump's comments from The White House
DONALD Trump would "love" to have Russia back in the Group of Seven (G7) nations despite them being expelled over a decade ago.
The Republican said he now trusts Vladimir Putin following on from their historic phone call but Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has urged world leaders to stay wary of the tyrant.
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Vladimir Putin and Moscow was suspended from the powerful G7, then known as the G8, in 2014 after stealing Crimea away from Ukraine.
Trump, who held a historic phone call with Putin on Thursday, described the decision to ban Moscow from the group as a "mistake".
Russia was the final member to be added to the club of industrialised democracies when they joined in 1997.
But they were indefinitely expelled less than three decades after due to Putin's widely condemned choice to invade the Crimean Peninsula.
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Speaking today in the Oval Office, Trump spoke on a potential return for Russia to the G7.
He said: "I'd love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out.
"Look, it's not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8.
"I said, 'What are you doing? You guys - all you're talking about is Russia and they should be sitting at the table."
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He added that Putin "would love to be back";.
Trump has also said he wants to speak with China's Xi and Russia's Putin about "denuclearising" all three countries.
If the West sends the message it is no longer up for the fight, it will be open season for tyrants to do what they want
The Republican said he had been in talks with the leaders during his first term in office about halting the production of nukes.
He claimed the world already has too many destructive nuclear weapons.
President Trump was asked by reporters in The White House about the reaction to his calls with both Moscow and Kyiv.
Ukraine’s Zelensky said Trump speaking to tyrant Putin first wasn't "very pleasant" to hear for the people of Ukraine.
But Trump responded by telling Zelensky they will definitely have a seat at the negotiating table alongside Moscow so all is fair.
He said the reason why Putin was phoned first was because Russia needs to be open to making a deal.
Ukraine has already confirmed they are ready to sit down and talk leaving the Kremlin as the only other party left to be persuaded, Trump said.
Despite Trump feeling confident he can get a deal done between Kyiv and Moscow due to the two conversations, Ukraine is still unsure.
Zelensky has spent the past few hours speaking with other world leaders from Poland's Donald Tusk to Spain's Pedro Sanchez.
The heroic Ukrainian President took to X after a meeting with Poland's Prime Minister as he said he was "warned world leaders against trusting Putin’s claims of readiness to end the war".
Dovile Sakaliene, the defence minister of Lithuania, also said trusting Putin to strike a peace deal with Donald Trump is a "deadly trap".
It comes as a top Nato defence minister warned Putin is still preparing to start a major war in Europe and won't stop in Ukraine.
Trump's Vice President is now due to meet Zelensky in person at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
Trump spoke on this meeting in a separate social media post.
"I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive," he said.
"It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!"
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America's proposal to end the three-year-old conflict is believed to be announced at the conference this week.
Trump has already revealed he has a concrete plan in place to end the war and hopes to finalise it "fast."
Ukrainian troops fear being "betrayed
EXCLUSIVE by Sergey Panashchuk & James Halpin
Defiant soldiers on the front line have told The Sun how they fear Ukraine could be handed over to Moscow in a peace deal.
At the front, Vasyl Savyn, 54, company commander of the 56th Separate Mariupol brigade said soldiers were not ready to give up because Trump wants to.
He said: "In our company, we don’t have any American weapons; we are independent from Trump’s decisions.
"There are only people left on the front line who want to fight and see the victory.
"We may die here, but we will not give up."
Eugen Sobchenko, 41, an engineer from Odessa, said he was "very concerned" about the deal.
He believes Trump wants to give Putin enough concessions from Ukraine to frame the war as a win.
Eugen said: "Ukraine will turn into his unconditional victory both for the domestic citizen and for many external partners/countries.
"I want to hope that this is not the case, but I have little hope, unfortunately. This is indirectly confirmed by the Rouble exchange rate and the Russian stock market."
Another soldier, Eugen, from an Odessa anti-drone unit, said "nothing good will come out of" the deal for Ukraine.
Eugen said: "I have a strong feeling that we are being betrayed by our biggest ally. I don’t feel comfortable at all.
"Time will tell more, of course. I wish to be wrong."
Vika Roik, 35, a business owner, said Trump wanted to be remembered as a "great man" of history but an unfair peace would only inflame tensions.
Vika said: "I think he is on the verge of losing an allied army in the future—the Ukrainian army—and the Americans will pay for it."
Mariya Chechelnytska, 37, from Kyiv, said she felt like it was the "start of a great show" between two unpredictable leaders.
She said: "They both defend their personal interests to the last breath and are not very famous for keeping their word. These negotiations can hardly be successful from the first call."
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