UNITED States President, Donald Trump, said on Sunday that he was “very angry and frustrated” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, signaling a significant shift in tone as Washington pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
This was revealed by Kristen Welker of NBC news, who said that Trump had called her to express his anger over Putin questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s future as a leader.
Welker, on her NBC show, “Meet The Press” on Sunday, quoted directly from an early-morning telephone conversation with the president.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault… I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
Trump told Welker that he “was very angry, pissed off” over Putin’s recent comments about Zelensky’s credibility and talking about new leadership in Ukraine.
The ICIR reported that President Trump has been advocating for a swift resolution to the over three-year war since assuming office, but his administration has yet to achieve a breakthrough despite ongoing negotiations with both sides.
Putin rejected a joint America-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and, on Friday, suggested that Zelensky be removed from office as a condition for peace.
Putin, who has been in power for 25 years and repeatedly re-elected in uncontested votes, has frequently challenged Zelensky’s “legitimacy” as president since his initial five-year mandate ended in May 2024.
Trump himself has had a turbulent relationship with Zelensky, labeling him a “dictator” and publicly clashing with him on camera at the White House last month.
However, Trump told NBC that while Putin knows he is angry, he still maintains “a very good relationship with him” and added that “the anger dissipates quickly… if he does the right thing.”
Trump’s anger comes amid strengthening ties between Washington and Moscow since his return to office, along with his threats to cut support for Kyiv, which have emboldened Russia on the battlefield as it continues its faltering invasion.
According to Ukrainian officials, six strikes hit overnight from Saturday into Sunday, injuring personnel receiving treatment at a military hospital and killing at least two people in a residential building.
Moscow said on Sunday that Russian forces also captured a village just seven kilometers (four miles) from the border of Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region in their latest advance.
Since launching their attack in 2022, Kremlin troops have yet to cross the region’s boundary, but they have been steadily advancing for months in pursuit of a breakthrough.
In his Saturday evening address, Zelensky called on his country’s allies to unite against Putin.
“For too long now, America’s proposal for an unconditional ceasefire has been on the table without an adequate response from Russia,” Zelensky said.
“There could already be a ceasefire if there was real pressure on Russia,” he added, thanking those countries “who understand this” and have stepped up sanctions pressure on the Kremlin.
The ICIR reported that Moscow and Kyiv agreed in principle to a Black Sea truce after talks with United States officials earlier this week. However, Russia stated that the deal would not take effect until Ukraine’s allies lifted certain sanctions.
In response, Trump told NBC that the policy would mean, “If you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” effectively issuing a threat of secondary tariffs.
“There will be a 25 per cent tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50 point tariff on all oil,” he said, without giving further details.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.