US President Donald Trump has said he is “not done” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The remarks, made during an interview with the BBC that was published on Tuesday, came hours after he had said he was “very unhappy” with Russia during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump, who had previously pledged to end the war in Ukraine in a day, has tried to bring about peace talks and a ceasefire.
But his attempts have fallen on deaf ears in Moscow, with Russia escalating its air strikes on Ukraine last week after Trump and Putin had spoken on the phone.
During the interview with the BBC, Trump was asked if he was done with the Russian leader.
“I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him. But I’m disappointed in him,” Trump said.
Asked how he would convince Putin to “stop the bloodshed,” Trump said “We’re working on it.”
“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,” the US president said.
Amid his growing frustration over the lack of progress with peace talks, Trump on Monday said he was sending new weapons for Ukraine and threatened tariffs and sanctions on Russia and any countries that trade with it unless Moscow agrees to a peace deal within 50 days.
The assertive posture is a major policy shift from Trump, who has previously suggested that Ukraine was responsible for starting the war, echoing Russia’s narrative.
He also tried to walk back pro-Ukraine policies favored by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, including supporting Kyiv’s membership in NATO and insisting that Russia withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territory.
