Russia’s actions in are Ukraine ‘disgusting’, says Trump
United States President Donald Trump has threatened new sanctions while slamming Russia’s military actions in Ukraine as “disgusting”.
“Russia – I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, the same day Moscow’s attacks on Kyiv killed more than two dozen people.
Trump also said he would send his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, currently in the Middle East, to visit Russia next.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Trump’s efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin came to a grinding halt.
Washington has given Moscow until the end of next week to cease hostilities in Ukraine, under threat of severe economic sanctions.
Trump reiterated the deadline on Thursday.
“We’re going to put sanctions. I don’t know that sanctions bother him,” the US president said, referring to Putin.
Trump has previously threatened that new measures could mean “secondary tariffs” targeting Russia’s remaining trade partners, such as China and India. This would further stifle Russia, but would risk significant international disruption.
The US president began his second term with his own rosy predictions that the war in Ukraine, raging since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022, would soon end.
In recent weeks, Trump has increasingly voiced frustration with Putin over Moscow’s unrelenting offensive.
Meanwhile, Putin said Russia wants a “lasting and stable peace” in Ukraine, adding that Moscow’s conditions for peace remained unchanged as Kyiv repeated its call for a leaders’ meeting.
Putin has consistently rejected calls to pause his nearly three-and-a-half year assault on Ukraine despite growing pressure from Trump.
“We need a lasting and stable peace on solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries,” Putin told reporters on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing for a meeting with Putin to end the conflict, with Kyiv proposing talks by the end of August. He repeated that call on Friday.
“We understand who makes the decisions in Russia and who must end this war,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
Call for ‘regime change’
Zelenskyy also announced on Friday that rescue operations were complete in Kyiv following Russian drone and missile strikes a day earlier.
“Unfortunately, as of now, 31 people are known to have died, including five children. The youngest child was only two years old,” he wrote on social media.
Russia used over 3,800 drones and nearly 260 missiles for its attacks on Ukraine in July, the president also said.
In an earlier statement, Zelenskyy urged his allies to bring about “regime change” in Russia, hours after the deadly attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Speaking virtually to a conference marking 50 years since the signing of the Cold War-era Helsinki Accords on Thursday, Zelenskyy said he believed Russia could be “pushed” to stop the war.
“But if the world doesn’t aim to change the regime in Russia, that means even after the war ends, Moscow will still try to destabilise neighbouring countries,” he said.
From late Wednesday to early Thursday, Russia fired at least 300 drones and eight cruise missiles at Ukraine, with Kyiv the main target, the Ukrainian air force said.
Moscow has stepped up its deadly aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent months in the conflict, resisting US pressure to end its nearly three-and-a-half-year invasion as its forces grind forward on the battlefield.
Germany said on Friday it will soon start delivering two more Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, as Kyiv faces a growing number of Russian drone and missile attacks.
After reaching an agreement with the US, the German military will deliver additional Patriot launchers in the coming days, and will supply further components in the next two to three months, the defence ministry said in a statement.
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