President Donald Trump on Saturday admitted that President Vladimir Putin might be “tapping me along” after another round of missile strikes in Ukraine last week, as his administration appears to be close to giving up on trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
His frustration with Putin followed his criticism of the bombings in Kyiv this week. That anger soon shifted to irritation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom Trump chastised for not signing a long-awaited mineral deal, the Washington Times reported.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “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!!!”
Trump’s comments on Saturday came as he returned from Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome, where he and Zelenskyy met face-to-face for the first time since their explosive Oval Office sit-down in February.
The White House has been advocating for a truce in the war. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week in Paris that the U.S. may “move on” if no immediate peace progress occurs, the Times continued.
After the meeting, Zelenskyy posted on X that he and Trump “discussed a lot one-on-one” in the Vatican.
“Hoping for results on everything we covered,” the Ukrainian president said. “Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you [President Trump].”
Previously, Trump criticized Zelensky for making, as one of his peace demands, the return of the Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014 — a point of contention that the U.S. president has called a non-starter.
Trump accused former President Barack Obama of “making it possible” for Russia to seize Crimea without “a shot even being fired” and called the conflict “Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine.”
“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 said. “I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is.”
On Wednesday, Trump blamed Zelensky for standing in the way of a peace deal between his nation and Russia.
“Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, ‘Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.’ This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired? The area also houses, for many years before ‘the Obama handover,’ major Russian submarine bases,” he continued. “It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about!”