NEW YORK, June 30. /TASS/. The time is ripe for making peace in Ukraine, and the United States should contribute to the peace process right now, acting as a mediator, former US President Donald Trump said in a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday.

"I think the biggest thing that the US should be doing right now is making peace - getting Russia and Ukraine together and making peace," he said. "This is the time to do it," he added.

The ex-US leader also believes Ukraine may be allowed to keep what it has "earned."

"I think they would be entitled to keep much of what they've earned and I think that Russia likewise would agree to that. You need the right mediator, or negotiator, and we don't have that right now," he lamented.

Without either elaborating on what Trump meant under "earned" or citing the former US president directly, Reuters said that he did not rule out that Kiev might have to concede some territory to Russia. Everything would be "subject to negotiation" though, Trump added.

The former US leader has repeatedly said publicly that he would broker peace in Ukraine in 24 hours if he were to win the 2024 presidential election. However, he never explained exactly how he sees ending this conflict.