 "US President Donald Trump with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Reuters File")
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and said any potential action would come as ‘a little surprise’.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump expressed frustration with Putin’s stance on peace negotiations, calling his public overtures “meaningless.”
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” AFP quoted Trump as saying.
When asked about a Senate-backed proposal to impose further sanctions on Russia, Trump said he was giving it serious consideration.
“I’m looking at it very strongly,” he was quoted as saying.
Trump also voiced disapproval of Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine, pointing to the mounting human toll.
“I’m not happy with Putin. I can tell you that much right now, because he’s killing a lot of people — a lot of them are his soldiers, and their soldiers. It’s now up to 7,000 a week,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.
Asked whether concrete action would follow, Trump said, “I wouldn’t be telling you — we want to have a little surprise.”
While acknowledging the bravery of Ukrainian forces, Trump credited US military support as a key factor in their defence.
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More Shorts“The Ukrainians were brave, but we gave them the best equipment ever made,” he was quoted as saying.
Trump’s criticism of Putin came a day after he said he would send more weapons to Ukraine, in a reversal of Washington’s announcement last week that it was halting some arms shipments.
The US president, who alarmed Kyiv and western allies with his pivot towards Putin soon after returning to the White House, confirmed that decision on Tuesday.
“Putin is not treating human beings right. He’s killing too many people. So we’re sending some defensive weapons and I’ve approved that,” AFP quoted Trump as saying.
Trump has promised to immediately send 10 Patriot interceptors - anti-missile systems - to Ukraine, according to US news website Axios.
He also urged Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth to push defencse contractors to increase production of armaments.
“We have to step them up, Pete, and let them make it at a much higher rate,” he said.
Moscow had no immediate reaction to Trump’s strongly-worded comments about Putin - which come just two weeks after he also cursed while talking about the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Meanwhile, at the same Cabinet meeting, Trump said that he would not extend an August 1 deadline for higher US tariffs to take effect on dozens of economies, a day after he appeared to signal flexibility on the date.
While Trump imposed a sweeping 10% tariff on goods from almost all trading partners in April, higher rates customised to dozens of economies were unveiled, then halted until July 9.
The president this week again delayed their reimposition, pushing it back to August 1.
Trump insisted that there would be no further delay in these steeper tariffs.
He added that the levies would start being paid on August 1, in line with letters now being sent out to trading partners.
“No extensions will be granted,” he posted on Truth Social. “There will be no change.”
With inputs from agencies