Donald Trump has again urged Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine as he warned the Russian economy is “collapsing”. The US President said Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries are hitting the Russian economy where it hurts, with fuel shortages causing prices at the pump to soar.
In a scathing assessment, Mr Trump said Moscow “should have won that war in one week” and heaped pressure on the Russian president to end the “horrible” conflict. He said Mr Putin “has got to really settle this war”, adding: “You know, they have long lines waiting for gasoline in Russia right now… all of a sudden his economy is going to collapse and I’d like to see him do well. I mean, I had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin, but he just doesn’t want to end that war.”
Speaking alongside Argentine President Javier Milei in the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said the war — which is approaching its fourth year — is making Mr Putin “look very bad”.
Mr Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian President in US-led attempts to end the conflict.
He claimed Russia has suffered 1.5 million casualties — more than the 1.1 million estimated by the UK Ministry of Defence. Other Western intelligence agencies assesses Russian casualties to be around one million.
Mr Trump has recently dismissed Russia as “a paper tiger” and, in a major shift in his stance on the war, said Ukraine can win back all of its territory.
“Who would think that Ukraine could have fought Russia for four years to essentially a standstill?”, Mr Trump said in Tuesday’s press conference.
Mr Trump is set to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Friday as he continues to consider supplying Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles.
On Sunday, he told reporters he could send the weapons, saying: “Maybe I’ll talk to him. I might say, look, if the war is not settled, I’ll send them the Tomahawks.”
The cruise missiles have a range in excess of 1,500 miles, which would put Moscow and large areas of Russia within reach.
Mr Putin has said relations between Washington and Moscow would be destroyed if America supplies the weapons.
Kremlin officials have warned that this would cause a significant escalation.