Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump expressed disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that he had “let me down” by failing to end the war in Ukraine.

“He has let me down. I mean, he's killing many people and he's losing more people than he's, you know, than he's killing. I mean, frankly, Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers,” Trump said during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Trump admitted he had initially believed the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be the “easiest” to resolve, but acknowledged that reality proved otherwise. He also reiterated his long-standing claim that the war would not have occurred under his presidency. “This was a thing that would have never happened had I been president. If I were president, it would have never happened. And it didn't happen for four years,” he said. “Most people agree it didn't happen, nor was it close to happening.”

Despite a summit held in Alaska between Trump and Putin, where the US President urged direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, no peace agreement emerged.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, escalated into a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia cited aims to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. Since then, Ukraine has launched counteroffensives, including a 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, while Russia has made gains in Donetsk, Luhansk and Mariupol.

The conflict has resulted in over 10,000 civilian deaths, according to UN estimates, and displaced millions.

During the press conference, Starmer emphasised the enduring alliance between the UK and US, saying both nations are “ready to define this century together.” He also criticised Russia’s continued aggression, stating that Putin “is not interested in peace.”

Starmer and Trump discussed strategies to “increase the pressure on Putin to get him to agree to a peace deal that will last.”

Trump also called on NATO and European countries to strengthen their stance against Russia. “They're not doing the job. NATO has to get together. Europe has to get together. Europe is my friend, but Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil,” he said. “And the sanctions that they're putting on are not tough enough.”

He criticised ongoing imports of Russian liquefied natural gas and added, “They're not supposed to be buying from Russia—whether it's natural gas or whether it's cigarettes, I don't care.”

In a letter to NATO members, Trump wrote: “I am ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA.”

He also proposed steep tariffs on China, writing: “I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50 per cent to 100 per cent TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”

AFP