Trump and von der Leyen discuss Ukraine, European energy independence from Russia, and UN effectiveness. Trump claims he ended seven wars, including conflicts that lasted 31, 32, and 35 years. Von der Leyen outlines Europe's plan to stop buying Russian gas, coal, and oil by year-end.
Questions this video answers
September 23, 2025
Seven.
One was 31 years, one was 32 years, one was 35 years.
2027.
She said 'till the end of the year' (phasing and sanctions on the table, subject to member-state agreement).
Chapters
Well, thank you very much. It's a great honor to be with a very powerful, very smart woman and a friend of mine. Become a friend of mine. And she does a fantastic job running lots of different nations. And, Ursula, thank you very much for being with us.
Thank you, thank you. Thank you for having me here. And very much looking forward to our conversation. I think it will be mainly around Ukraine, the missing children, and certainly the new hybrid threats we are experiencing in Europe. So thank you very much for making the time.
Thank you very much. And we will have a very good conversation. Any questions, please?
How soon do you think, Madam President, how soon do you think that Europe can stop buying Russian oil and gas fluid like President Trump has asked for?
Yeah, President Trump is absolutely right. We're on it. We have reduced already massively the gas supply from Russia, completely gotten out of Russian coal, and massively also reduced the oil supply. But there's still some coming to the European continent.
So.
So what we do now, we put sanctions out to those ports where, for example, LNG is coming from Russia, and we want to put tariffs on oil supplies that are still coming to the European Union. So we are really getting, after the last bits of oil and gas coming from Russia to the European Union, we want to get rid of it.
When do you think you'll be able to do that? You previously said 2027, and you're looking.
At a quick return.
We want to be out earlier. Absolutely. So till the end of the year, we have the phasing. We have now, the sanctions on the table proposed. Member states have to agree, but we have to be faster because every payment is filling Putin's watches. This cannot be.
Mr. President.
Mr. President, nice to see you. During your speech to the General assembly, you talked about the UN not reaching its potential. Do you see any kind of consequence if they don't step up and do what they should on a number of issues?
Well, they've never really reached. Not just now, they've never reached their potential. The UN could be unbelievable with certain people running it. And, no, it's never reached the potential. Look, I put out seven wars, if you think about it, and I'm not the U.N. but. And I wasn't helped by the U.N. i was never even given a phone call. But you have a list of the wars, and these were wars that were pretty much unstoppable. These are wars that were not going to be settled. One was 31 years, one was 32 years, one was 35 years. And altogether a total of seven. Two were starting and I was never called by the UN. I was never like. I didn't even think about it, frankly, until after we did it. I never gave it a lot of thought. And then recently I started thinking, you know, we were never helped by the un. The UN has tremendous potential. Tremendous potential. It's going to hopefully put out the wars themselves. I mean, someday it's going to do what I've been doing, and they should be able to do it. Thank you for that question. I appreciate it. Sir, given what you just said, what.
Structural changes would you like to see in the UN and what role do you think it could play in peacekeeping, for example, going forward, given what you just said?
Well, it's a fantastic role in peacekeeping. It should be great. I mean, we shouldn't have any wars if the UN is really doing its job. I know they were involved originally with Russia, Ukraine, and that didn't get done because that was the time to stop it. But no, it's a. It's. I always say about the UN fantastic potential, but it's all about the people. You know, you can have a wonderful concept, but if you don't have the people. The UN has never lived up to its potential, but I'm the example of it. We do all these wars and we weren't helped by the un. We weren't hurt by them, but we weren't helped. They didn't do anything. And they're supposed to be solving these problems. Thank you very much, everybody. We have a lot of meetings. We have a lot of meetings. Thank you.
