Donald Trump has accused Vladimir Putin of stringing him along over peace talks between Ukraine and Russia following an extraordinary one-to-one meeting with Vlodymyr Zelensky before the Pope’s funeral.
The US President has become increasingly frustrated at Russia's unwillingness to quickly negotiate a ceasefire deal and suspects the Russian dictator “doesn’t want to stop the war”.
He also lashed out at Putin for launching his force’s deadliest wave of airstrikes on Kyiv in nine months, which killed 12 and injured 100 on Friday.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social on Saturday.
“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?’”
Mr Trump’s latest attack on Mr Putin came after he met the Ukrainian president at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican just yards from Pope Francis’s coffin.
Vatican sources cited by Sky News confirmed the pair agreed to continue their discussion after the ceremony concluded.
Following the funeral ceremony’s end, the Ukrainian leader said his face-to-face encounter with Mr Trump – their first since a tempestuous clash in the White House in February – had been a “good meeting”.
Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said the pair had a “very productive discussion”.
Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff, called the impromptu meeting between the two “constructive”.
The Trump administration believes that the Ukrainian leader has no choice but to sign up to the US’ ceasefire proposal, which would allow Russia to keep occupied territory in Ukraine.
But Mr Trump’s tough language towards the Kremlin will raise hopes for European officials, who believed that an encounter in Rome might help ease tensions and break the diplomatic deadlock over Ukraine’s future.
Mr Trump previously said he is “not happy” with Putin’s military tactics and told him to “STOP!” his “special military operation” in Ukraine as he attempts to push Moscow and Kyiv towards a truce.
