President discusses Ukraine, Russia and Israel; urges deals and criticizes tactics toward Lebanon

During a question-and-answer period the president said he had met with Ukrainian leadership and expected further meetings, including additional contact with President Putin, and urged Russia to seek a deal to end fighting. In response to a question about a Ukraine deal he said, "I spoke with President Putin on Sunday" and described high casualty rates reported in the transcript, saying the two sides had suffered ‘‘tremendous amounts of people’’ and citing figures such as 25,000–35,000 losses over recent periods.

The president characterized the U.S. role as selling weapons to parties in the conflict rather than direct involvement on the ground: "We sell weapons to them. We don't even give them." He expressed sympathy for the heavy human cost, saying he did not want to see ‘‘25,000 young people die every month.’’

On questions about Israel and regional security, the president said the Iran agreement could survive an Israeli attack and singled out Hezbollah as a persistent problem. He criticized some Israeli tactics in Lebanon for civilian harm and suggested Syria might be more effective at countering Hezbollah, saying, "I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah."

Nut graf: The president’s answers mixed diplomatic outreach with strong rhetorical positions and numeric casualty claims; he emphasized U.S. distance from direct combat while citing weapon sales and urged other regional actors to help contain militant groups.

The briefing did not provide documentary evidence for the casualty estimates presented, and several historical references to past U.S. actions and financial figures were offered without supporting documentation in the transcript.