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After conceding in private that he may have misjudged Vladimir Putin’s desire for peace, President Donald Trump now claims his patience is running out for the Russian leader. The commander-in-chief told his close confidants that may have misread Putin’s determination to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine, according to Axios.
Over a month ago, Trump claimed Putin would face severe consequences if he did not move forward with a ceasefire in Ukraine, or make significant progress towards peace at their summit in Alaska. Since then, Russia has increased their bombings on civilians in cities across Ukraine and Putin has not agreed to a bilateral summit with Zelensky .
During a ‘Fox & Friends’ interview with Trump on Friday morning, host Brian Kilmeade asked the president if his patience is running out with Putin. ‘Yeah, it’s sort of running out and running out fast — but it does take two to tango,’ Trump responded.
‘It’s amazing, when Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelensky wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelensky wants to and Putin is question mark.’ ‘We’re going to have to come down very, very strong,’ the president added.
Trump added that he is ‘disappointed’ with Putin but noted there is ‘tremendous hatred between him and Zelensky.’ Earlier in the interview, Trump spoke about the recent Russian drone incursion into Poland that sent shockwaves throughout Europe earlier this week.
‘I’m not going to defend anyone but they were actually knocked down and fell into there,’ said Trump while responding to the Polish drone incident. ‘But he shouldn’t be close to Poland anyway!’
A senior White House source told Axios that Trump is feeling frustrated about his inability to end the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza. Trump has suggested that Putin would face economic sanctions if he refused to make significant progress for peace.
Kilmeade pressed Trump to outline what the consequences would look for if Putin snubbed the peace process. ‘It would be hitting very hard with sanctions to banks and having to do with oil and tariffs also,’ Trump replied.
‘But I’ve already done – I’ve done a lot!’ Following his summit with Putin in Alaska, Trump met with Zelensky and a delegation of European leaders at the White House.
Following their meeting, Trump announced a bi-lateral conference would occur between Putin and Zelensky on neutral territory. However, in the weeks since the announcement, Putin has refused to meet with Zelensky by suggesting he is not the legitimate president of Ukraine.
