"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!!!"
- Trump wrote on social media on his way back from Rome, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the funeral of Pope Francis. Meanwhile, a day earlier, reporting on talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin, Trump claimed that he was very close to a peace agreement.
Trump's social media entry was mainly devoted to a critical article by New York Times journalist Peter Baker, who wrote in an analysis that Trump's actions are beneficial to Russia, mentioning in this context, among other things, the proposal for the US to recognize the annexation of Crimea.
"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"
- the US president fumed, adding that the journalist should focus on criticizing Barack Obama, under whose administration the annexation of Crimea took place, and claiming that he himself is just "trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is".
Trump has previously threatened Russia with sanctions, including “secondary tariffs” on countries that buy oil from it, if it is not willing to negotiate to end its war of aggression against Ukraine. He quickly changed his tone to a more conciliatory one, however - and has not yet followed through on any of his threats, while applying more and more pressure on Ukraine, who is the victim of Moscow's unlawful attack.
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Source: PAP