A European leader who met with President Donald Trump on Saturday said Trump is growing impatient with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he attempts to resolve the war in Ukraine.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb told the New York Times on Sunday that he hopes “the Kremlin understands that you don’t play with President Trump” following a Saturday meeting with him in Vatican City, Rome. Trump has accused both Ukraine and Russia of not showing a sufficient desire for peace since he returned to office on a promise to end their over three-year conflict.
“[Trump] is running out of patience, and we’ve now seen statements which are quite tough on Putin and Russia,” Stubb told the paper regarding ongoing peace talks.
Trump said in a Saturday Truth Social post that “there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.”
“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,” he said.
Stubb, whose country shares its border with Russia, said he hopes the toughness on Putin will “move things in the right direction” toward peace and that he felt “a tad more optimistic” after meeting with Trump.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance previously argued with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on national television about his posture toward the war when Zelenskyy visited the Oval Office in February. Zelenskyy complained to the pair that the U.S. had not done enough to stop Putin’s aggression after giving Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in aid since Russia’s 2022 invasion. (RELATED: Embattled Federal Agency Failed To Verify Ukraine Aid Partners Weren’t Enabling Sex Trafficking)
“With respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance told Zelenskyy to his face, adding that “you should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Trump posted later that day that Zelenskyy “can come back when he is ready for Peace.” However, the president insisted at a Thursday press briefing that “you have no idea what pressure I’m putting on Russia.”
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