Donald Trump defined the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as "bullets whacking and hitting men" as he spoke to reporters in North Carolina on Friday, 24 January, during a visit to assess damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
The 47th US president described Russia's invasion as "a butchering tragedy for both sides" in which "it's just bullets whacking and hitting men, mostly men, almost in all cases, men, and over a million men are killed and they're losing thousands of people a week."
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this week, Mr Trump claimed that the nearly three-year-old war between Russia and Ukraine was the fault of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s failure to preemptively capitulate before Russian troops began their attack.