[Anchor]

U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that it is time to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, pressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reach a peace agreement.

Reporting from Washington, this is correspondent Jeon Byeong-nam.

[Reporter]

With two weeks remaining until the midterm elections, U.S. President Donald Trump has once again stepped up pressure on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to agree to end the war.

President Trump expressed frustration over recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian transit facilities, noting that while the U.S. has spent a massive amount of money—including providing 350 billion dollars to Ukraine—all it received in return was high oil prices.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: We have provided tremendous support to Ukraine. But we got nothing back except expensive oil. American taxpayers are exhausted. We want Zelenskyy to make a deal.]

President Trump also reiterated his previous claim that the war was an inevitable choice to eliminate Iran's nuclear program, and that oil prices would drop as soon as the war with Iran ends.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: Everything will be resolved as soon as the war ends. The war will end soon. We paid a heavy price, but it is actually a small price to pay to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.]

On the other hand, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, made a hardline statement, declaring that not a single pinch of enriched nuclear material could be given up.

In addition, Reuters reported that Iran is intentionally delaying peace negotiations with the U.S. to deal a blow to President Trump in the U.S. midterm elections.

In fact, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that on the 20th local time, three oil tankers collided with mines in the Strait of Hormuz causing fires, and that they also shot down a U.S. drone.

An Iranian official emphasized, "Iran is preparing for the resumption of attacks by the U.S. and Israel, not a peace agreement with the U.S.," adding, "Our determination not to hand Trump a political victory is firm."

Amidst these circumstances, a poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos showed President Trump's job approval rating dropping to a record low of 31 percent.

President Trump announced that he would execute an additional 100 million dollars during the remaining period of the midterm elections, bringing the total to 400 million dollars (approx. 530 billion KRW).

This is interpreted as an attempt to turn the tide as a growing sense of crisis spreads that the Senate, following the House of Representatives, could be lost to the Democrats.

(Video taken by Park Eun-ha, Video edited by Kim Jong-mi, Design by Kim Na-mi)