President Donald Trump on Saturday questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s commitment to ending the war in Ukraine after Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” the U.S. president wrote in a post on Truth Social, referencing the Russian military strikes in Ukraine this week that killed and wounded dozens of people.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along,” Trump added, suggesting that maybe Putin “has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’”
Imposing further sanctions on Russia is an idea that has bipartisan support in the U.S., with a bipartisan group of 50 senators — 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans — earlier this month introducing a bill that would impose additional sanctions on Russia.
Trump has for weeks been advocating in favor of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, and on Friday he hinted that a deal could be close to the finish line, urging Russia and Ukraine to meet for “very high level” talks. Earlier in the week, Trump had slammed Zelesnkyy for rejecting the terms of any peace deal that would allow Russia to retain control of Crimea, which it annexed against Ukraine’s will in 2014.
In a post on X after meeting with Trump in Rome, Zelenskyy thanked the American president and called the meeting “good” and “symbolic.”
The Ukrainian president added that he is “hoping for results on everything we covered,” which included: “Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.”
Zelenskyy added that the exchange with Trump has the “potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
In his Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump blamed his predecessors, Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, for allowing Russia to annex Crimea.
“It was Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired,” Trump wrote, adding later in the post: “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 and Zelenskyy’s meeting in Rome was their first face-to-face interaction since the Ukrainian president’s visit to the White House in February. During that visit, an Oval Office meeting devolved into a shouting match between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance, with Trump and Vance telling Zelenskyy he wasn’t grateful enough for the United States’ continued support in the war.
While in Rome, Zelenskyy also met with European leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who wrote in French on X that he had a “very positive exchange today” with Zelenskyy.
“Ending the war in Ukraine is the goal we share with President Trump. Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire. President Zelensky reiterated this to me today. He wants to work alongside the Americans and Europeans to implement it. Now it’s up to President Putin to prove that he really wants peace,” Macron added.
Zelenskyy said his discussion with Starmer focused on “the steps necessary to establish a full, unconditional ceasefire and to develop further security guarantees.”
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