Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Ukraine, Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US News
Joe Harker
Topics: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Ukraine, Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US News
Donald Trump has said that he is 'very angry' with comments made by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The pair have generally seemed rather close on the world stage, Trump's admiration for Putin has been made clear on several occasions and earlier this month he said he's 'always had a good relationship' with him.
Trump even said that he finds it 'easier' dealing with Russia than he did Ukraine, but 70 days into his attempt to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours he had some harsher words for Putin.
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In an interview with NBC, Trump insisted he was not happy with recent comments made by Putin calling for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine in order to hold elections in the country he is invading.
That would essentially kick out current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Ukraine's constitution makes it clear that elections are suspended during wartime anyway.
Trump has in the past called Zelenskyy a 'dictator' following a spat in the White House where the Ukrainian leader was criticised by the US president for 'gambling with World War Three' for attempting to defend his country from Russian invasion.
Since then ceasefire talks have progressed and an agreement has been reached over a ceasefire in the Black Sea, but Russia has set out a list of conditions for a full ceasefire which it is highly unlikely Ukraine would agree to.
As such, Trump's attempts to broker a ceasefire have become bogged down and in his interview he said he didn't like Putin's recent comments.
Trump said: "If I feel we're in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, p***ed off, when Putin said yesterday that - you know, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy's credibility, because that's not going in the right direction."
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He went on to say that if Russia didn't agree to a ceasefire, then he would put more tariffs on the country's oil exports.
"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 - which it might not be - but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia," he declared.
"That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States.
"There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil."
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Despite the harsh rhetoric, Trump said he has 'a very good relationship' with Putin and made it clear 'the anger dissipates quickly... if he does the right thing'.
He did previously say there would be a 'very bad punishment' for Putin if he didn't accept a ceasefire.
Elsewhere in the same interview, he said he was 'not joking' about looking at the possibility of running for a third term as US President, saying 'there are methods which you could do it'.