President Trump said he found it “easier” to deal with Russia than Ukraine as he claimed that President Putin was “doing what anybody else would do” by intensifying his bombing of the war-torn country.
The US president, who has been widely criticised for his willingness to trust Putin and see the conflict from Russia’s perspective, added that the Kremlin leader “wants to end the war … and I think he’s going to be more generous than he has to be”.
Trump spoke in the Oval Office shortly after raising Ukrainian hopes of a more balanced approach to the crisis by threatening Russia with “large scale banking sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs” unless it agreed to a ceasefire.
However, this echoed a similar threat he made in January that preceded his aggressive treatment of President Zelensky and talks with Moscow to re-establish US-Russia relations.
With the proposed US-Ukraine agreement on natural resources stalled as Trump seeks better terms for America, hopes for a ceasefire rest on talks in Saudi Arabia next week between Zelensky and US officials led by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.
“I think we’re doing very well with Russia and right now they’re bombing the hell out of Ukraine,” Trump said, when asked whether he believed Putin was ready for peace. He was speaking a week after a dramatic argument between Trump, his vice-president JD Vance and Zelensky.
Zelensky is being pressured into concessions by Trump’s decision to block US intelligence sharing with Ukraine
NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
“I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine and they don’t have the cards … I find that in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising, because they have all the cards,” he said, accepting the view that Moscow is in a strong position going into peace talks.
“They’re bombing the hell out of them [Ukraine] right now. And I put out … a very strong statement … We’re trying to help them and Ukraine has to get on the ball and get a job done.”
Trump said he always had a “good relationship” with President Putin
MIKHAIL METZEL/AFP
Asked if the Russian leader was taking advantage of the American pause in weapons shipments to Ukraine, Trump said that Putin was “doing what anybody else would do” by intensifying the bombing of civilian and infrastructure targets.
He emphasised his personal bond with Putin, appeared to appreciate the Russian leader’s approach and suggested that he knew his mind.
“I think I do know how to end the war … I’ve always had a good relationship with Putin. He wants to end the war. He wants to end it,” Trump said. “I think he’s going to be more generous than he has to be. That’s pretty good. That means a lot of good things.”
Trump’s decision to block US intelligence sharing with Ukraine to pressure Zelensky into concessions on a peace deal is already having a negative impact on the country’s defences, Ukrainian sources said. On Thursday night, Russia launched an intense series of missile and drone attacks aimed at infrastructure and some civilian targets.
The aftermath of a missile strike in Kharkiv
VYACHESLAV MADIYEVSKYY/REUTERS
GEORGE IVANCHENKO/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Trump said that before returning to intelligence-sharing, “I have to know that they want to settle. I don’t know that they want to settle. If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there”.
In his evening address on Friday, Zelensky said: “Ukraine is ready for peace as soon as possible: we have proposed concrete steps. Every day, new Russian strikes and reality itself prove that it is Russia that must be forced to peace — to stop the war, to real diplomacy, to guarantee security and to a reliable, lasting peace.”
A British government source said many in the Ministry of Defence were “shocked by the intelligence stopping”, and believed that Trump and Vance were prepared to have “blood on their hands”.
The source said: “It’s essentially blindfolding the majority of their weapons and air defences.
“The fact that Trump and Vance are prepared to have civilian blood on their hands shows just how reckless they are. Putin’s the only one sleeping soundly at night — that’s for sure.”
One foreign diplomat in London said of Trump: “I think there is no strategy but to demolish. What comes afterwards no one knows, even Trump himself.”
John Herbst, who was US ambassador to Ukraine for three years under George W Bush, said he feared Trump’s threats of more sanctions on Russia may be just for show.
“Trump posted before the Oval Office that he was considering sanctions and tariffs on Russia, whereas with Ukraine the first thing we heard of the pausing [of supplies and intelligence] was the action, as opposed to considering,” he said.
“So that underscores that this [sanctions threat] is perhaps more for show than for action. What I see is that the administration understands it has a vulnerability, that they’re being easy on the bad guy and tough on the victim, and so that’s where this concept of possible economic measures against Russia comes from.”
President Macron emphasised that France was a “loyal” US ally
OLIVIER MATTHYS/EPA
Trump may revive plans from his first term, reversed by Joe Biden, to move out a large number of the 35,000 US troops and other personnel based in Germany. At the time Trump linked this to Germany being “delinquent” on defence funding.
Vance spoke incredulously last month about the US military presence in Germany. He told a conference: “Think about this. Germany’s entire defence is subsidised by the American taxpayer. There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany today. Do you think that the American taxpayer is going to stand for that if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet? Of course they’re not.”
President Macron of France said on Friday that his country was a “loyal and faithful” US ally after Trump warned Nato members that any nation that did not meet the alliance’s defence spending target of 2 per cent of GDP would not be defended by the US.
Article 5 of the founding treaty states that an attack against one ally would be considered an attack against all.
Trump said in the White House on Thursday: “If you’re not going to pay, we’re not going to defend them.”
Ben Hodges, a retired US general, said: “It’s a wrecking ball to what Nato is all about and would do nothing to advance America’s strategic interests. I hope that the relevant House and Senate oversight committees will perform their constitutional duties and prevent this very dangerous policy shift from ever happening.
“[It’s] worth remembering that Article 5 has only been invoked once in 75 years … and that was when all of our Nato allies came to our assistance after we were attacked on 9/11 … without consideration of status of trade or other economic considerations by those allies.”
General Sir James Everard, who served as Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander Europe, said: “The genius of the North Atlantic Treaty is that it gives the US [a seat] at the European security table. Nato is also the only place that the US meet their allies every day, giving them insight and influence across Europe, the world’s second-largest economy. These are prizes worth preserving — and will be preserved.”