Trump backs away from Putin criticism, renews attacks on Ukraine

By Kate Sullivan

President Donald Trump dialed back his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and instead accused Ukraine of attempting to renegotiate an economic deal with the US.

The US leader is in a hurry to get a ceasefire agreement over the line in time to mark his 100 days in power. His frustration at the process saw him lash out at Putin over the weekend. But on Monday, Trump had turned his ire back to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The result is a geopolitical whiplash on the eve of Trump’s global tariff announcement on April 2 and shows US impatience with the process of securing a temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine more than three years after Putin’s invasion of its neighbour.

Trump had vowed he would end the war within 24 hours of taking office but has found Russia to be a tough negotiator and able to wrest concessions from the US by exploiting Trump’s desire to get a deal done quickly. On Sunday, Trump told NBC he was “pissed off” at Putin.

It was a marked change of tone for a leader he has expressed admiration for until now. It raised the question of whether Russia was going to start seeing a more punitive side to Trump’s negotiations. The Kremlin reacted calmly, and a day later Trump de-escalated.

“I want to make sure that he follows through, and I think he will,” Trump said of Putin on Monday in the Oval Office. “I don’t want to go secondary tariffs on his oil, but I think, you know, something I would do if I thought he wasn’t doing the job.”

Trump instead redirected his anger at Zelenskyy, who has been his usual target, saying that he was basing his criticism off news reports he read that Kyiv was seeking new terms for a natural resources partnership deal.

“I heard that they’re now saying, well, I’ll only do that deal if we get into NATO or something to that effect,” Trump said. The president said membership in the military alliance was never part of the discussion and would not be accepted by Russia.

A draft proposal of Ukraine’s requested changes concerns the country’s effort to enter the European Union, not NATO, and sought a pledge for more US investment in the country.

Russia is one of the world’s three largest oil producers, and any attempt by the US to punish purchases of Russian supplies could have a far-reaching impact on the oil market, including by intensifying inflationary pressures in the US.

Trump’s tougher talk toward Putin caused crude prices to rise Monday. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, climbed to $71.48 late Monday, well beyond the mid-$60s that Trump was celebrating earlier this month.

Trump’s comments suggested a possible souring in US-Russian relations over the pace of the ceasefire talks. Trump has previously voiced concern that Moscow could be slow-walking negotiations.

The US president’s flash of irritation toward Russia was prompted by comments Putin made last Friday implicitly challenging Zelenskyy’s legitimacy by proposing the United Nations take over Ukraine with a temporary government overseen by the US and possibly some European countries.

“He’s supposed to be making a deal with him, whether you like him or don’t like him,” Trump told reporters Sunday about Putin. “So I wasn’t happy with that. But I think he’s going to be good.”

Trump told NBC he and Putin planned to speak again this week. The Kremlin on Monday said Putin remained open to contacts with Trump. However, a spokesman, according to the state-run Tass news agency, told reporters no call had been scheduled yet.

The last publicly disclosed call between the two leaders was earlier in March, a conversation that saw Putin refuse to grant Trump a 30-day ceasefire. Putin instead agreed only to limit attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure while demanding that the US and other nations stop the flow of weapons and intelligence to the neighboring country he invaded.

After subsequent talks held separately with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia, the US said the two nations had agreed to a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea. But while Ukraine said it would observe the ceasefire, Russia said its involvement depended on preconditions, including sanctions relief.

The threat of secondary tariffs is a novel tactic Trump has adopted to ramp up economic pressure on other countries. He’s previously threatened to impose tariffs on countries that buy oil from Venezuela in a bid to choke off its trade with other nations.