Donald Trump has asserted that a significant number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have perished in the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
Upon his return to office in January, President Trump has dedicated himself to achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine. However, his attempts have not yet been successful, as the hostilities between the two countries persist with no clear resolution in sight.
Despite momentary ceasefires between the two neighbors, these truces have quickly broken down, leading to renewed attacks.
Trump is reportedly becoming increasingly frustrated with Vladimir Putin over the war, even going so far as to threaten Moscow with ‘very severe tariffs’ if they do not cease their attacks on Kyiv by early September.
The US President also mentioned earlier today that he has ordered two nuclear submarines to strategic locations in response to a tense exchange with a former Russian president.
In an effort to further rationalize his position on the conflict, Trump shared on his Truth Social platform the number of casualties he believes have resulted from the conflict since the beginning of the year.
He contends that hundreds of thousands of soldiers have died in the conflict, calling it ‘unnecessary death[s]’, and stated: “I have just been informed that almost 20,000 Russian soldiers died this month in the ridiculous war with Ukraine.”
“Russia has lost 112,500 soldiers since the beginning of the year. That is a lot of unnecessary DEATH! Ukraine, however, has also suffered greatly.
“They have lost approximately 8,000 soldiers since January 1, 2025, and that number does not include their missing. Ukraine has also lost civilians, but in smaller numbers, as Russian rockets crash into Kyiv, and other Ukrainian locales.”
Trump concluded: “This is a War that should have never happened — This is Biden’s War, not “TRUMP’s.” I’m just here to see if I can stop it!”
Trump’s statements come after a conversation on July 28 with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer where he expressed his disappointment with Putin.
He criticized the Russian leader for continuing air strikes against civilian targets and for apparently violating their agreements.
“We thought we had it settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he said.
“You have bodies lying all over the street, and I say that’s not the way to do it. So we’ll see what happens with that.”
The September deadline was initially set by Trump to apply pressure on Putin to halt the destruction, although he has since considered shortening the 50-day timeline.
“I think I already know the answer, what’s going to happen,” he remarked, hinting at reducing the timeframe by ‘about 10 or 12 days’, which would impose a new deadline of August 9 instead of September 2.