 Former US president refuses to call Putin a war criminal. Former US president Donald Trump has refused to call Russian president Vladimir Putin a war criminal because, according to him, it could harm negotiations with the Russian Federation. Trump said it during a debate on CNN. When a journalist asked if Trump considered the Russian president a war criminal, he said, I think it should be discussed later. If you say he's a war criminal, it's going to be a lot tougher to make a deal to get this war stopped, Trump said. The former US president believes that the charges against Putin should be discussed later. Trump called the Russian president very smart and very cunning at the same time. He believes that Putin made a tremendous mistake by attacking Ukraine. His mistake was going in. He would have never gone in if I was president, Trump added. Trump has refused to answer the thrice-voiced question of who he wants to see as the winner in Russia's war against Ukraine. I don't think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled. When the journalist asked for the second time whether he wished Ukraine to win, Trump did not give a direct answer but instead said that he wanted everyone to stop dying. Russians and Ukrainians, I want them to stop dying and I'll have that done in 24 hours, said the former US president. After the journalist asked her question for the third time, Trump said that he wanted Europe to put up more money in supporting Ukraine and equalize with the United States.