US President Donald Trump has stated that he had de-escalated eight global conflicts in the preceding eight months, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, where he cited the Pakistan-India conflict and the Gaza peace plan as examples.
"'This is number nine. This will be number nine for me," Trump told reporters on Friday ahead of his talks with Zelenskyy, referencing the Ukraine-Russia conflict that nears its four year mark.
"I've solved eight conflicts, including the Middle East. This [Ukraine-Russia] I thought would have been among the easiest. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin mentioned yesterday —Armenia, you know, all of the different wars. He said it was amazing but the big one that he was surprised that we were able to settle was the Middle East."
Zelensky is meeting Trump to push the US leader for long-range Tomahawk missiles that can strike deep inside Russia.
The meeting comes a day after Trump had a phone call with Putin and announced a fresh summit with Russian President while casting doubt on giving Kiev the powerful cruise missiles.
Trump again reiterated his belief that his efforts merit the Nobel Peace Prize.
"It's funny how people say that if you get this one, every time I do one, they forget about that one. I solved eight wars. Go to Rwanda and the Congo. Talk about India and Pakistan. Look at Thailand. Every time I solve one, they say, 'If you solve the next one, you're going to get the Nobel Prize.' I didn't get a Nobel Prize. Like somebody got it who's a very nice woman, very nice. I don't know who she is, but she was very generous," Trump said.
Pakistan-India conflict
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week hailed Trump for his "exemplary" leadership as world leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire and captive-prisoner swap in Gaza.
Sharif has twice endorsed Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing his Gaza peace plan and brokering of a ceasefire during a Pakistan-India standoff in May.
"All of these wars had nothing to do with us, but I saved tens of millions of lives. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said I saved millions of lives in interceding on Pakistan, and you look at Pakistan and India as an example. That would have been a bad one, two nuclear nations, right?" he said.
Trump also touched on the ongoing clashes between Pakistan and Afghan Taliban, saying, "…although I do understand that Pakistan attacked, or there is an attack going on with Afghanistan. That's an easy one for me to solve if I have to solve it."
India refutes Trump's claim of mediating a ceasefire with Pakistan during their recent conflict even as guns fell silent on both sides after Trump announced the ceasefire between the nuclear rivals.
"No world leader asked us to stop the operation," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told parliament recently.
Since May 7, Trump and his administration have claimed dozens of times that the United States stepped in to prevent a full-scale war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Islamabad has acknowledged Washington's role, but New Delhi continues to deny it.
