U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (August 14, 2025) once again claimed that he brokered the peace between India and Pakistan, threatening that the matter might have gone out of control to a nuclear war.
If you take a look at Pakistan and India… planes were being shot out of the sky. Six or seven planes crashed. They were on their way, perhaps nuclear. We fixed that," Trump stated in remarks in the Oval Office.
The remarks were made in advance of his meeting Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska as Trump attempts to facilitate an end to the Ukraine war.
Trump called the Russia-Ukraine war much more complicated than he had originally anticipated. "I figured that the Russia-Ukraine war would have been the 'easiest one' to end, but it's really the hardest," he stated.
I believe that President Putin would prefer to have an agreement. I believe that if I weren't president, he would occupy all of Ukraine. It's a war that never should have taken place. If I weren't president, in my view, he would much prefer to occupy all of Ukraine. But I'm president and he's not going to mess with me," he added.
In talking about his forthcoming meetings with Putin, Trump sounded optimistic. "I think it's going to be a good meeting," he said, adding that a second, more important meeting with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and himself would follow.
Trump further indicated that certain European leaders may be part of the larger talks. "We're going to see what happens. And I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelenskyy will make peace. We'll see if they can get along, and if they can, it'll be great," he stated.
Trump also asserted that he has achieved victory in "six wars" within the last six months and declared that he is "very proud of it.
Since May 10, when Trump tweeted that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire, he has been repeatedly taking credit for bringing about the truce. He even said that he had promised nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours the possibility of "a lot of trade" if they stopped fighting.
India, however, argued that the hostilities with Pakistan came to an end due to a direct dialogue between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both armies.
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