President Donald Trump is now questioning whether Russian President Vladimir Putin truly wants to put an end to the war in Ukraine, which Russia initiated through a full-scale invasion back in February 2022.
It comes after he had a second in-person meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while at Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome.
In a recent post on Truth Social, Trump expressed his doubts, stating, ‘There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently.’
The various ways he suggested to ‘deal with’ Putin including ‘banking’ and ‘secondary sanctions.’
Concerned about the loss of life, Trump added, ‘Too many people are dying!!!’ highlighting the tragic consequences of the Russian military strikes this week in Ukraine, resulting in numerous casualties and significant destruction of infrastructure.
Imposing further sanctions on Russia is something that could happen in the future, seeing as 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans in the Senate agreed to introduce a bill earlier this month that would do just that.
Trump’s suggestion that Putin doesn’t want the war to end came after the longtime Russian leader welcomed US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow. Witkoff was reportedly there to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.
For weeks, Trump has been demanding an end to the fighting, even hinting on Friday that a deal between the two warring nations could be close.
President Donald Trump has for the first time doubted Vladimir Putin ‘s willingness to end the war in Ukraine that Russia began in February 2022 with an all-out invasion
His statement came the same day he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Vatican City while they were both at the funeral for Pope Francis
Trump apparently souring on Putin as a peace partner comes after he sent US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (pictured left) to broker an end to the war in Ukraine
Earlier this week, Trump slammed Zelensky for rejecting out of hand any deal that would allow Russia to retain control of Crimea, a peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.
However, it seems that Trump and Zelensky have mended things in the days since, with both men describing their talk in Vatican City in positive terms.
Zelensky thanked Trump, calling the meeting ‘good’ and ‘symbolic.’
The Ukrainian president added that he is ‘hoping for results on everything we covered.
He said this included, ‘Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.’
Zelensky said his meeting with Trump has the ‘potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.’
Trump souring on Putin as a peace partner is a remarkable shift in tone since February, when he told reporters that Ukraine had three years to end the war.
‘You should have never started it,’ he said about Ukraine while US-led peace talks were happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Days after those talks, which did not include Ukrainian negotiators, Trump invited Zelensky to the White House. Their meeting in the Oval Office devolved into a shouting match.
Trump and Zelensky’s meeting on February 28 in the Oval Office did not go as well as their second attempt in Rome on Saturday
Zelensky angered Trump and Vice President Vance when he made a comment about the US having ‘a nice ocean’ separating it from conflict.
‘First of all during the war, everybody has problems. Even you, but you have a nice ocean and don’t feel it now but you will feel it in the future.’
Trump jumped in to say, ‘Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel… You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.’
‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump bellowed at Zelensky at one point.
Trump and Vance repeatedly told Zelensky he wasn’t being grateful for the tens of billions of dollars in aid the US has supplied his country for the war effort.
After the disastrous showdown, Trump briefly paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine. This was lifted on March 11, when Kyiv agreed to a 30-day interim ceasefire with Russia that had been proposed by the US.
