President Trump on Saturday said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stringing him along after the latest deadly strikes on Ukraine, as the U.S. seeks to bring an end to the war in Eastern Europe.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days," Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social. "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, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
His post came as the president was traveling back to the U.S. following Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome and after he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two leaders spoke ahead of the funeral, their first face-to-face interaction since the contentious Oval Office meeting earlier this year.
The White House has not yet released details on what was discussed during the roughly 15-minute meeting.
Trump's latest remarks also come in contrast to what he said week ago, when the president insisted "nobody's playing me."
Earlier this week, Trump lashed out at Putin after Russia launched deadly strikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. He then expressed frustration on Friday with Zelensky, saying he is late to sign the minerals agreement with the U.S., nearly two months after an expected deal signing was called off.
The Trump administration has been pushing for a permanent truce in the war in Ukraine, but top officials have in recent days signaled they are prepared to walk away from negotiations if the two sides don’t reach a deal soon.
The president began his comments on Saturday by casting blame on the media, especially The New York Times reporter Peter Baker, following his comments that he believes Crimea will stay under Moscow’s control as part of a deal to end the war.
“No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it," the president wrote. "Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests, in order to stop the killing that is worse than anything since World War II."
"Why doesn’t this lightweight reporter say that it was [former President] Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired,” he added.
In the lengthy post, Trump went on to call the conflict former President Biden's war and doubled down on an argument he made often while on the campaign trail — that the war wouldn't have started if he had defeated "Sleepy" Biden in 2020.
"It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time," he wrote. "I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is.”
Trump, in a recent interview with Time magazine, blamed Ukraine for initiating the war with Russia by eyeing a NATO membership. He also contended that Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Trump: Putin ‘tapping me along’ with Russia strikes on Ukraine )
Also on site :