Trump warns of a potential 'world war' as a result of Russia-Ukraine conflict

• Former President Trump told Fox News Digital the Russia-Ukraine conflict could spark a "world war."
• When asked by Fox, Trump was unable to offer a public message for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Former President Donald Trump in an exclusive interview on Saturday said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could potentially escalate to a "world war" and stressed that President Joe Biden's administration would have to put more pressure on Moscow than by simply issuing sanctions.

During the conversation with Fox News Digital at the site of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, the former president said that the invasion "never should have happened."

"It is a horrible thing," he said. "But there's great bravery being shown, and I think they're doing one hell of a job — much more so than anybody would have thought possible."

When Trump was asked if had any words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he came up blank.

"I have no message," the former president said. "I just think it's a shame that this is going on. It's something that should not be going on."

He continued: "Thousands of people, I mean, this can lead to much bigger than this one area. This could lead to a lot of other countries and can lead to world war."

Trump, who during his tenure in the White House received criticism for what many saw as an overly cozy relationship with the Russian leader, remarked further on the instability of current situation.

"You never know how it starts, in a world war," he said. "You never think a war is going to come out of it. All of a sudden, you end up in a world war."

He added: "This is a very dangerous period for our nation, for the country."

Shortly before the interview, the US, Canada, and its European allies agreed to block "selected" Russian banks from SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions.

However, Trump was less than impressed with the move.

"They're going to have to do more than just sanctions, I suspect," he said. "Putin ... he understands how to avoid sanctions, and he goes through other countries."

In the interview, the former president continued to needle Biden for the manner in which the US withdrew from Afghanistan, even though his administration laid the groundwork for the eventual exit.

"Getting out was a good thing. I had it down to two thousand soldiers," the former president said, pointing to the reduced troop levels in the country when he was in the Oval Office. "We were going to get out with strength and dignity, but to take the soldiers, the great Army out first ... and leave the Americans behind, leave other people behind, leave $85 billion worth of equipment behind."

Trump then said that Putin was watching when 180 people — including 169 Afghan citizens and 13 US service members —were killed in a suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport last August.

The former president added that the Russian leader "probably came up with ideas" that he didn't have before witnessing the US withdrawal "because it was grossly incompetent."

However, when asked what he would have done had Russia invaded Ukraine on his watch, Trump had little to say.

"Well, I tell you what, I would do things, but the last thing I want to do is say it right now, because if somebody asks me that is in a position where they can utilize whatever it is I give them," Trump said. "But I certainly wouldn't want to be talking about it on television or to the media too much."

He added: "But there are things you can do that would be very powerful."