Former President donald trump refused to call Wladimir Putin a war criminal despite the issuance of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Arrest warrant against the Russian PresidentInvolved in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Ukraine.

What happened: trump, at CNN’s town hall event, said Putin’s involvement in war crimes is something that “should be discussed later”.

“If you say he’s a war criminal, it becomes a lot harder to get a deal to stop this thing,” he said.

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“If he is to be a war criminal, the people will grab him and execute him; he will fight much harder than under the other circumstances. That’s something to be discussed later in the day.”

Although the former president admitted he believes “Putin made a mistake”. But then he repeated his earlier claims and said: “His (Putin’s) mistake was received. He would never have gone in if I had been President.” Referring to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Why it matters: Since the beginning of the war, Trump has repeatedly made similar claims. His previous plan to “get people in a room” and “Knock Heads” drew massive criticism from critics. Trump has often boasted about his close relationship with Putin and said that if we were the President, he would get Putin to end the war in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Trump is the Republican lead candidate for the 2024 US presidential election. Recent polls have shown he has massive support over the incumbent president Joe Biden.

Continue reading: Trump’s former press secretary says ex-president will see “big lead” in polls disappear once DeSantis joins the fight