Trump claims he has 'surprise' plan to end war in Ukraine

Donald Trump has said he has plans that are "guaranteed" to end the war in Ukraine, but will only reveal them if he wins the US presidential election in November.

The former US president and current Republican nominee is locked in a neck-and-neck race with his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

"If I win, as president-elect, I'll have a deal made, guaranteed. That's a war that shouldn't have happened," Trump said on the Lex Fridman podcast released on Tuesday.

"I have a very exacting plan how to stop Ukraine and Russia, And I have a certain idea — maybe not a plan, but an idea — for China," he added.

"But I can't give you those plans, because if I give you those plans, I'm not going to be able to use them; they'll be very unsuccessful. You know, part of it's surprise, right?"

The comments echo the move by Trump loyalists in Congress earlier this year, when they tanked a bipartisan immigration plan reportedly because they did not want the Biden-Harris administration to earn credit on one of the 2024 election's biggest issues.

Won't be resolved in one day

It was not the first time Trump made such a claim. He claimed previously, multiple times, that he could end the war in Ukraine in one day.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said previously, "It's necessary to separate pre-election rhetoric from statements by government officials vested with the appropriate powers. If we talk about whether it's possible to resolve the conflict, let's be realistic", referring to his claims he could end the war in one day.

Before it, Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia said, "the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day."

Trump has faced criticism for repeatedly praising Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the podcast, he said the Ukraine crisis could spiral into "a third world war," and that several global hot spots are boiling because "America has no leadership."