Russia brushes off Trump's claim that he could end Ukraine war in a day

Russia's UN envoy has rebuffed ex-US president Donald Trump's promise of a one-day resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war if he wins another term, saying "the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day."

When asked to respond to the claim from the presumptive Republican nominee, Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Monday that the war could have ended in April 2022 in Istanbul when Russia and Ukraine were "very close" to an agreement.

Moscow invaded its neighbour two months earlier, on February 24, 2022, though Russia insists its "special military operation" began in 2014 after clashes in Ukraine's east resulted in Moscow seizing the Crimea Peninsula.

cNow, he said, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "is running around with his so-called peace plan, which, of course, is not a peace plan but a joke."

While meeting in Switzerland last month, nearly 80 countries called for the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end the war.

But some key developing nations did not join in and Russia did not attend the conference.

Nebenzia pointed to Putin's offer on June 14 to "immediately" order a ceasefire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kiev begins withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounces plan to join NATO.

Zelenskyy, who has vowed not to give up any territory, rejected what he called an ultimatum by Putin to surrender more land.

'Nonstarter'

At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: "They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I'll have that done — I'll have that done in 24 hours."

He said that would happen after he met with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he keeps repeating the claim on the campaign trail.

During last week's debate with President Joe Biden, Trump claimed, "If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin ... he would have never invaded Ukraine."

Nebenzia called Zelenskyy's peace formula "a nonstarter" and said he needs to be "realistic" and take into account what's happened since April.

The more difficult the situation becomes for Ukraine on the ground, he warned, the more difficult diplomacy will become to end the war.

After Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces thwarted their drive to the capital. Much of the fighting has been focused in Ukraine's south and east, where Moscow seized four regions, although it doesn't fully control any of them.

However, Ukraine is still struggling to stabilise parts of its front line after desperately needed military assistance from the United States, which was delayed for months before being approved in April.

And Russia took advantage of the Ukrainian weapons shortage to launch an offensive and has made gains.