Trump says he exchanged "pretty strong words" with European leaders on Ukraine

US President Donald Trump has said he exchanged "pretty strong words" with European leaders regarding Ukraine on Wednesday 10 December.

As reported by AFP, asked about Wednesday's phone call with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump noted: "We discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words."

"I think we had some little disputes about people, and we're going to see how it turns out. And we said, before we go to a meeting, we want to know some things," Trump added.

He said the Europeans want to hold new talks this weekend.

"They would like us to go to a meeting over the weekend in Europe, and we'll make a determination depending on what they come back with. We don't want to be wasting time," Trump added.

Meanwhile, the US leader once again signalled he could step away from the war, placing the blame squarely on his predecessor, Joe Biden.

"Sometimes you have to let people fight it out and sometimes you don't. But the problem with letting people fight it out is yet you're losing thousands of people a week. It's ridiculous. The whole thing is ridiculous," Trump said.

On Wednesday, Starmer, Macron and Merz held a phone conversation with Trump concerning ways to achieve peace in Ukraine.

German government spokesman Stefan Cornelius said the leaders agreed that this is "a decisive moment for Ukraine and for common security in the Euro-Atlantic area".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced earlier that new calls and meetings with Ukraine's partners are scheduled this week that could bring developments on ending the war.

On 9 December, Zelenskyy also said that work is now complete on the Ukrainian and European proposals regarding the "peace plan" at the level of national security advisers and they are ready to be presented to the United States.