Donald Trump has expressed disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but stated he is “not done” with him, in a BBC interview published on Tuesday. This follows Trump’s announcement of new weapons for Ukraine and threats of sanctions against Russia.
“I’m disappointed in him (Putin), but I’m not done with him. But I’m disappointed in him,” Trump told the BBC.
He added: “We’ll have a great conversation. I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I’ll think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv.”
Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine on Monday, and threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless a peace deal is agreed. This major policy shift is driven by frustration with Moscow’s ongoing attacks on its neighbour.
But Trump’s threat of sanctions came with a 50-day grace period, a move that was welcomed by investors in Russia where the rouble recovered from earlier losses and stock markets rose.
Sitting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and that billions of dollars of U.S. weapons would go to Ukraine.”
We’re going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO,” Trump said, adding that Washington’s NATO allies would pay for them.
The weapons would include Patriot air defence missiles Ukraine has urgently sought.”It’s a full complement with the batteries,” Trump said. “We’re going to have some come very soon, within days… a couple of the countries that have Patriots are going to swap over and will replace the Patriots with the ones they have.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
