President Donald Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz repeatedly sidestepped questions about the president's views of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his culpability for the war in Ukraine during Thursday's briefing.
The former Florida congressman was asked whom the president believes is "more responsible for the Russian invasion of Ukraine," and whether Trump, who called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" earlier this week, also believed Putin was one.
He did not directly answer the question either time.
FULL LIST OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS, ACTIONS, AND PROCLAMATIONS TRUMP HAS MADE AS PRESIDENT
"Well, look [Trump's] goal is to bring war to an end, period, and there has been ongoing fighting on both sides," Waltz said, when asked about who is most responsible for the war.
Trump and Zelensky have directed insults toward one another this week as the Trump administration has begun an effort to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
Despite the administration's push to end the war, it and the Ukrainians have not been aligned.
The Ukrainians were excluded from a U.S.-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, they declined a U.S. proposal to provide the U.S. with $500 billion worth of rare earth minerals to compensate for the U.S.'s military support, and, following the Ukrainians' rejection, Trump said Zelensky is a "dictator" and alleged he was responsible for the war.
Russia amassed forces on Ukraine's border in the lead-up to its invasion of Ukraine's sovereign territory in February 2022.
Zelensky then accused Trump of living in a "disinformation space," which Waltz said "frustrated" the president.
"His frustration with President Zelensky is that you've heard is multi-fold," Waltz added. "There needs a deep appreciation for what the American people, what the American taxpayer, what President Trump did in his first term, and what we've done since. So some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable."
He did not answer whether Trump believes Putin is a dictator or whether the president holds him primarily responsible for the conflict that has become the deadliest war on European soil since World War II.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
He was also asked if he stood by an op-ed piece from September 2023, in which he wrote in part, "Putin is to blame, certainly, like al Qaeda was to blame for 9/11," and he responded, "It shouldn't surprise you that I share the president's assessment on all kinds of issues."
"What I wrote as a former member of Congress, look, what I share the president's assessment on is that the war has to end," Waltz added.