President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is beginning to question whether Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a warning shot to the Russian leader that came just after Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Rome.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a post to his social media site, referring to an attack on Kyiv earlier this week, which killed at least eight people.
“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,” he added.
In the post, which includes some of Trump’s most public criticism of Putin, the president said that the U.S. would consider additional sanctions on Russia.
His Truth Social comments come one day after he said that Ukraine and Russia are “very close” to a ceasefire deal, calling for the two countries to meet for “very high level talks.”
Trump and Zelenskyy sat down at St. Peter’s Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral earlier Saturday, in what the Ukrainian leader called a “good meeting.” It’s the first time the two men had met face-to-face since their heated Oval Office exchange in February.
“President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately today and had a very productive discussion. More details about the meeting will follow,” said White House communications director Steven Cheung.
