Trump says Ukraine is 'demolished' at North Carolina speech

Former president Donald Trump described Ukraine in bleak and mournful terms, referring to the country itself as "demolished."

Trump argued on Wednesday at a North Carolina speech that Ukraine should have made concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the months before Russia's February 2022 attack, declaring that even "the worst deal would've been better than what we have now."

Trump, who has long been critical of US aid to Ukraine, frequently claims that Russia never would have invaded if he was president and that he would put an end to the war if he returned to the White House. But rarely has he discussed the conflict in such detail.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is visiting the US this week to attend the UN General Assembly, told The New Yorker that Trump "doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how."

Trump said, "It's something we have to have a quick discussion about because the president of Ukraine is in our country, and he's making little nasty aspersions toward your favourite president, me."

Trump painted Ukraine as a country in ruins outside its capital, Kiev, short on soldiers and losing population to war deaths and neighbouring countries. He questioned whether the country had any bargaining chips left to negotiate an end to the war.

"Any deal — the worst deal — would've been better than what we have now," Trump said. "If they made a bad deal, it would've been much better. They would've given up a little bit, and everybody would be living, and every building would be built, and every tower would be ageing for another 2,000 years."

"What deal can we make? It's demolished," he added. "The people are dead. The country is in rubble."

'Egged it all on'

Zelenskyy is pitching the White House on what he calls a victory plan for the war, expected to include an ask to use long-range Western weapons to strike Russian targets.

Trump laid the blame for the conflict on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival, in November. He said Biden "egged it all on" by pledging to help Ukraine defend itself rather than pushing it to cede territory to Russia.

"Biden and Kamala allowed this to happen by feeding Zelenskyy money and munitions like no country has ever seen before," Trump said.