President Donald Trump admitted Saturday that he may have been wrong to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace in the war against Ukraine, and threatened further sanctions.
Shortly after talking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, Trump took to Truth Social to decry Russia’s attacks on civilian areas in the last week.
“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!!!” the president wrote.
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The admission came only after Trump had ripped into The New York Times’ coverage of his handling of the war, and blamed the conflict on former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
The meeting between Trump and Zelensky was the first face-to-face since the February Oval Office blow-up between the two presidents and Vice President JD Vance.
“President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told Axios.
Zelensky called it a “good meeting” in a post on X.
“We discussed a lot one on one,” he said. “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting the 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.”
Since entering office, Trump has pushed to broker peace in the conflict that has raged for more than three years. On Friday, he had said that the two sides were “very close to a deal.”
Since his first term, Trump has drawn criticism for his amiable relationship with the Kremlin. Over the past several months, he has frequently assured people that Russia’s strongman leader genuinely wants peace.
On the other hand, he has called Zelensky a “dictator” and suggested that he doesn’t actually want to end the war.
As the negotiations have dragged on, though, Trump has taken a more insistent tone in Truth Social missives directed at Putin.
“Vladimir, STOP!” Trump pleaded after Russian strikes on Kyiv this week. “5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
