US President warns of risk of World War III with nuclear weapons

The Daily Mail reported on March 15 that along with issuing the above serious warning, when speaking at the US Department of Justice on the evening of March 14 (local time), President Trump also revealed that ceasefire negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine are progressing, but devastation could still occur if the two countries do not reach a peace agreement.

“I think we can handle it, I think we can do it, but this could easily lead to World War III, very easily, very easily lead to World War III. But I think we’re in a pretty good place, much better than we were before we intervened,” Trump said.

“We are very close to World War III, and it would be a war like no other because of nuclear weapons and other weapons that you don't even want to know about,” the US leader added.

Claiming that much progress had been made since he became president, Mr Trump went on to say that he had and is still talking to the Russian leader to “end the war”.

“I think we’re doing well with the Russian Federation, we’re talking to President Putin, we want to end the war,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr Trump also said that “probably” $350bn had been sent to Europe – a figure analysts say is higher than the reality – and that he was on track to reach a deal to “get that money back”.

“We had some very good calls today with the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and they agreed to a ceasefire if we could make a deal with the Russian Federation,” Mr. Trump said. “And that’s not easy. It’s a tough problem.”

The US president went on to assert that at some point, “there will be no war if I am president. It will not happen 100% of the time.”

This is Mr. Trump's first appearance at the Justice Department and also the first of any president in the past decade.

The last president to visit the department was Barack Obama, who attended the farewell ceremony of then-Attorney General Eric Holder.

Trump’s comments on Friday night came as Ukrainian troops fighting in Kursk were being urged to surrender after Moscow retook much of the territory Kiev seized in a cross-border offensive on Kursk last August, including a swift counterattack last week.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump urged the Russian Federation to “spare their lives.”

In a social media post, the US president urged Putin to avoid a “horrific massacre” and spare the lives of “thousands” of endangered Ukrainian soldiers who he said were “totally surrounded”.

“I have strongly asked President Putin to spare their lives,” Trump wrote. “This would be a horrifying massacre, the likes of which have not been seen since World War II.”

However, Ukraine has rejected Mr Trump’s claim that its military units have been surrounded. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted that the situation in Kursk is “very difficult”.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that Ukrainian forces in Kursk would be “guaranteed safety of life and treated with respect” if they laid down their weapons.

“We appreciate President Trump’s call,” Mr Putin said in a televised address, adding that if Ukrainian forces in Kursk “lay down their weapons and surrender, they will be guaranteed safety of their lives and treated with respect”.

However, the Russian leader added: “In order to effectively implement the call of the US President, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine to the military is needed to lay down arms and surrender.”