Trump threatens to deal ‘differently’ with Russia

Washington: United States President Donald Trump on Saturday expressed more frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over recent airstrikes on Ukraine and threatened to deal “differently” with Moscow and use “banking” and “secondary” sanctions.

The American President, who has touted personal ties with his Russian counterpart as his key to ending the Russia-Ukraine war, wondered if President Putin was “tapping me along”, another phrase for stringing someone along or pretending to do something without actually meaning it.

This criticism of the Russian President comes just days after the American President called out to him in a post on Truth Social to stop bombing Ukraine. “Vladimir, Stop”, he wrote, which was widely taken as a rebuke of President Putin.

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to recent sir strikes on Kyiv. “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, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions’? Too many people are dying!!!”

This post came shortly after President Trump’s meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican before Pope Francis’s funeral, on Saturday.

No details were made available of their discussion. A White House spokesperson described the meeting as “very productive”.

“Good meeting. One-on-one, we managed to discuss a lot. We hope for a result from all the things that were spoken about,” President Zelensky wrote in a social media post. He wrote further that they discussed the “protection of the lives of our people. A complete and unconditional ceasefire. A reliable and lasting peace that will prevent a recurrence of war”.

He added: “It was a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic if we achieve joint results. Thank you, President Donald Trump!”

Steve Witkoff, who is the Special Envoy for President Trump, met with President Putin in Moscow on Friday.

IANS