Donald Trump has assisted Dana White in pursuing the release of US-Russian ballerina Ksenia Karelina, who was serving 12 years imprisonment.
Karelina was arrested and found guilty of treason in Russia late last year after she donated money to a charity that supported the rival nation, Ukraine. According to the investigation, the 34-year-old’s donation was used to purchase equipment and ammunition for the country’s Armed Forces.
Under the plea of Dana White, Donald Trump managed to strike an agreement with Vladimir Putin. The United States and Russia came to terms on a prisoner swap with an accused smuggler and the earlier mentioned ballerina.
“I appreciate the ballerina who was released,” Trump said. “That was at the request of a very good friend of all of ours, actually.”
“Dana White called me and he said it’s the friend or the relationship of one of the fighters for UFC or one of the fighters, and Dana is an incredible guy.”
“We spoke to President Putin about it and they made a deal. They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good.”
“So, we appreciate that. We hope that we’re going to be able to make a deal relatively soon with Russia and Ukraine to stop the fighting.”
“It’s so senseless, it’s such a horrible thing. It would’ve never happened if I was president. But it did happen, and we were given that card.”
Listen to Donald Trump’s comments on the release of Ksenia Karelina below.
President Trump Helps Dana White get Ballerina connected to a UFC fighter released from Putin in Ukraine-Russian Conflict pic.twitter.com/DTUwAXxqkd
— MMAWeekly (@MMAWeeklycom) April 10, 2025
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