Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) on Tuesday said Vladimir Putin should be “in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed,” as President Donald Trump appears to be seeking closer ties with the Russian leader.
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Wicker, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said Putin can’t be trusted, adding that he has “violated every tenet of international law.”
“Putin is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed,” Wicker said.
Asked if Putin can be trusted in the negotiations over the Ukraine war, Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said: “No. Putin is a war criminal who should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed.” He also said that the Russians will try to do ‘anything to… pic.twitter.com/6LgiyMrSJz
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 18, 2025
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Asked if Putin can be trusted in the negotiations over the Ukraine war, Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said: “No. Putin is a war criminal who should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed.” He also said that the Russians will try to do ‘anything to… pic.twitter.com/6LgiyMrSJz
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 18, 2025
Top officials from Trump’s administration, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday met with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia to discuss, among other things, ending the war in Ukraine, following a 90-minute call between Trump and Putin last week.
Asked if he was worried that Ukraine and its European allies were excluded from those discussions, Wicker told CNN: “I don’t know what the scheme is. There may very well be a method to all of this.”
Wicker, though, noted that ultimately both Ukraine and Europe will need to participate in any negotiations to end the war to ensure a “fair result.”
This is not the first time Wicker has spoken up in favor of Kyiv. Last week, the GOP senator told Politico that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a “rookie mistake” when he undercut Ukraine’s bargaining position with Russia ahead of any peace talks.
Trump has shown little sympathy toward Ukraine, going as far as to falsely claim the country was responsible for starting a war prompted by Russia’s invasion.
“I heard, ‘Oh, oh, we weren’t invited,’” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should’ve ended it in three years,” he added. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”
Trump also took aim directly at Zelenskyy, falsely claiming he has a 4% approval rating.
Zelenskyy on Wednesday accused Trump of echoing the Kremlin’s talking points.
“We understand that it is coming from Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump, Zelenskyy added, “lives in this disinformation space.”
The president apparently didn’t take well to Zelenskyy’s comments, calling the Ukrainian leader a “Dictator without Elections” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Last year’s election was postponed due to the war.