US President Donald Trump was scathing in his assessment of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday. After speaking with the Russian President over the phone on July 3, he reportedly told journalists this week: “We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth.”
“He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” he added. On the day of the call, the US President said: “I’m not happy. I didn’t make any progress with him [Putin] today at all.”
However, President Trump refused to commit to ramping up sanctions on Russia, when asked by reporters whether he would back Senator Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill against Russia and countries still buying Russian fuel and minerals.
“We are looking at that,” said Trump, “[but] it’s an optional bill, it’s totally at my option [to sign the bill], and to terminate [the bill] totally at my option. And I’m looking at it very strongly.”
“Putin is not treating human beings right. He’s killing too many people. So we’re sending some defensive weapons, and I’ve approved that,” President Trump added.
It comes after it emerged Trump is alleged to have revealed to political donors that he once told Vladimir Putin he would “bomb the s**t out of Moscow” if the Russian leader invaded Ukraine.
The 47th President’s comments could relieve Kyiv. Last week, the White House announced it would halt the shipment of some critical American-made weapons, including Patriot air defense systems and others, to Ukraine.
According to the Kyiv Post, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin made clear to Trump that Moscow remains committed to its maximalist war aims.
President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a “fruitful“ conversation on July 4. The pair reportedly discussed the resumption of defensive weapons shipments to Ukraine and mutual procurement and investment in air defense systems.
