French media outlet Le Point reported earlier in the day that the president would join Putin to continue negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine and commemorate Victory Day, Russia’s celebration marking the end of World War II.

“No. No, I’m not,” Trump stated when asked if he was planning on traveling to Moscow. Reporters had joined Trump in the Oval Office for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s swearing-in ceremony.

TRUMP SHARPENS CRITICISM OF ZELENSKY AS US ENVOY HEADS TO UKRAINE

Putin invited Trump to Moscow earlier this month, though the White House had not yet publicly commented on the invitation. Trump has suggested he will soon meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia.

Trump has recently blamed both former President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Putin’s decision to launch his invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Yes, Russia attacked, but there was no reason for him to attack,” Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade during a radio interview Friday morning. “Every time I say, ‘Oh, it’s not Russia’s fault,’ I always get slammed by the fake news. But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things, Zelensky said the wrong things, and they got attacked, which was a bad thing to do, but Russia could have been talked out of it so easily.”

At the White House, Trump notably did not directly answer a question on whether or not he believes Putin is a “dictator.” He had used the word earlier this week to describe Zelensky instead.

“I think that President Putin and President Zelensky are going to have to get together because you know what? We want to stop killing millions of people,” the president said in response to a separate question.

TRUMP BLAMES ZELENSKY, BIDEN FOR ALLOWING PUTIN TO INVADE UKRAINE

Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine will not accept any peace deal to which they are not a direct negotiating party.

“I think we have a chance to get the deal done. I had to make sure that Russia wanted to do it,” Trump said. “It’s a war that would have never happened if I was president, but it did happen. So I got stuck with it, and I want to stop people from being killed.”