Trump: Russian army could have taken Kyiv but got stuck in mud due to "a stupid general's mistake"

US President Donald Trump, answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office, said the Russian army could have taken Kyiv in the early days of its invasion of Ukraine but got bogged down because of "the mistake of a stupid Russian general."

Play video: Trump: Russian army could have taken Kyiv but got stuck in mud due to "a stupid general's mistake" (Duration 1:15)

"The war would have ended in one day"

Trump sharply criticized the Russian army's strategy at the start of the war. Targeting the Russian command, he argued that a strategic mistake at the beginning of the operation changed the course of the war. Trump said:

Russia had a very stupid general. They were advancing along a concrete highway with a thousand tanks. If they had moved at the tanks' maximum speed, exactly 48 miles per hour (77 km/h), they would have reached Ukraine within 4 hours. There was nothing to stop them. The war would have ended in one day.

Donald Trump

Saying he did not know who the commander was and doubted whether he was still alive, Trump described the Russian troops' leaving the highway and heading into agricultural land as a major mistake.

But he decided to turn right. He wanted to advance toward the agricultural land and then turn left to go to Kyiv. Yet if they had stayed on the highway, on that concrete road in perfect condition, they would have arrived there within 3.5–4 hours and the entire war would have ended.

Donald Trump

Rain and mud

Trump said the weather and terrain also put the Russian army in a difficult position, claiming that after heavy rain the ground turned into a swamp and the tanks could no longer advance.

In the end they got stuck in the mud. The night before, the heaviest rain they had seen in the last 10 years had fallen, and the terrain was soaked. It was like a swamp. But he made a terrible decision; a legendarily bad decision... The tanks got stuck in the mud. They could neither move forward nor retreat. They were destroyed. That is what war is called; you never know what will happen.

Donald Trump

Answering other questions about the conflict, Trump again objected to the scale of military casualties: "Thousands of soldiers are dying every month. This is the most insane thing I've ever heard. What is all this for?" Asked how close the US was to a deal to free American teacher Steven Hubbard, who is detained in Russia, he replied: "Just trust me. No one has been able to do this so far. Just trust me. I don't want to talk about it."