Donald Trump has accused Vladimir Putin of stringing him along over Ukraine peace talks.
The US president posted on Truth Social: “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.”
His comments come after Mr Trump met Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican before the funeral of Pope Francis.
Vladimir Putin is ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine “without preconditions”, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president is said to have told US envoy Steve Witkoff at a meeting on Friday that he is willing to resume negotiations over a peace deal.
“During yesterday’s talks with Trump’s envoy Witkoff, Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Putin has stated that several times in the past.
The Russian president has regularly set out his demands on the regarding Ukraine, which include control of the five Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, Ukraine’s renunciation of NATO membership and its demilitarisation.
Putin and Witkoff discussed the possibility of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine during a three-hour meeting in Moscow, which was described by a Kremlin aide as constructive.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks on the fighting since the start of Moscow’s offensive in 2022..
On the same day that Donald Trump has turned on him, Vladimir Putin has declared victory in Kursk after the Russian army claimed Ukrainian forces were expelled from the final village in the region.
Putin said the expulsion of Ukrainian forces from Russian soil opened the way for further Russian military successes.
Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff for Russia’s Armed Forces, told Putin the news in a meeting on Saturday, saying his forces had pushed Ukrainians out of the territory while fighting “shoulder to shoulder” with North Koreans.
If true, it would mark the end to Ukraine’s eight-month offensive into Russia that began on August 6, 2024. Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia.
Ukraine’s military however denied the Russian claims. The Ukrainian military’s general staff, in a statement posted on social media, said its forces were continuing their operations in some districts of Kursk region.
French president Emmanuel Macron says Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to work with the US on peace talks.
He said he had a “very positive exchange” with Mr Zelensky in Rome on Saturday where world leaders have gathered for the funeral of Pope Francis.
“Ending the war in Ukraine. This is the goal we share with President Trump,” he said in a post on X.
“Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire. President Zelensky reiterated this to me today. He wants to work alongside the Americans and Europeans to implement it.
“Now it’s up to President Putin to prove he truly wants peace.
“We will continue our work within the framework of the coalition of the willing launched in Paris last March, to achieve both this ceasefire and a complete and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Échange très positif aujourd’hui avec le Président @ZelenskyyUa à Rome.
Mettre fin à la guerre en Ukraine. C’est l’objectif que nous partageons en commun avec le Président Trump.
L’Ukraine est prête à un cessez-le-feu inconditionnel. Le Président Zelensky me l’a redit… pic.twitter.com/INFd3B8qy9
Volodymyr Zelensky will be satisfied with the results of his tete a tete with Mr Trump in the heart of the Vatican on the day of Pope Francis’ funeral.
Buried deep in a lengthy rant about a journalist on his Truth Social platform was a sentence that will have given the under-pressure Ukrainian president hope.
Mr Trump attacked Putin for firing on civilians before accusing him of “tapping me along” in peace negotiations over Ukraine.
It was a talking point taken straight from Kyiv, London and Paris, and Mr Zelensky will hope, to Mr Trump’s heart.
Mr Trump followed it up with a renewed threat to hit Russia with sanctions.
It is a volte face after his blaming of Mr Zelensky for the war and his urging of him to sacrifice territory to Moscow.
Mr Zelensky made the most of his one to one with the President to forcefully make his case and successfully get into Mr Trump’s ear.
He will now have to hope his points are forceful enough to withstand the counter-arguments of those in the Trump administration who want the war in Ukraine over, no matter the cost to Ukrainians.
Here is Donald Trump’s full post on Truth Social in which he turned on Vladimir Putin.
“No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it. Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests, in order to stop the killing that is worse than anything since World War II.
“Why doesn’t this lightweight reporter say that it was Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired. It was also Liddle’ Peter who wrote an absolutely fawning, yet terribly written Biography, on Obama. It was a JOKE! Did Baker ever criticize the Obama Crimea Giveaway? NO, not once, only TRUMP, and I’ve had nothing to do with this stupid war, other than early on, when I gave Ukraine Javelins, and Obama gave them sheets.
“This is Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine. It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time. I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is. With all of that being said, 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, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!”
Sir Keir Starmer has hailed “positive progress” towards a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
The Prime Minister sat down with the Ukrainian counterpart on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister met President Zelenskyy in Rome this afternoon. They discussed positive progress made in recent days to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
“They agreed to maintain momentum and continue working intensively with international partners to drive forward the next stages of planning. The leaders agreed to speak again at the earliest opportunity.”
It came after Mr Zelensky also met Donald Trump, the US president, in the two men’s first encounter since the Ukrainian leader was asked to leave the White House following an extraordinary televised row in February.
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