WASHINGTON — President Trump harshly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, accusing him of making empty gestures and continuing the war in Ukraine despite promises of peace.
“A lot of people are dying and it should end,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “We get a lot of bulls— thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
Despite recent attempts by Putin to court favor with Trump—including commissioning a portrait from a Russian artist and claiming he prayed for Trump after last year’s assassination attempt—the president expressed deep frustration.
Trump noted that Putin had spoken with his envoy, Steve Witkoff, and made overtures toward peace, but continued brutal drone strikes on Ukrainian civilians. He described a July 3 phone call with Putin as disappointing: “It just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people.”
On July 4, Trump had what he called a “good call” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and praised the Ukrainian people for their resilience.
“The Ukrainians were brave but I will say we gave them the best equipment ever made,” Trump said, reaffirming his commitment to send additional weapons and aid. “The Ukrainians, whether you think it’s unfair we gave all that money or not, they were very brave.”
Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a priority in his second term. He said Ukraine has shown willingness to accept a ceasefire, but Russia has refused to agree to any pause in the fighting.
“They had the benefit of unbelievable equipment,” Trump said. “We gave them far more because Biden shouldn’t have done that … We should’ve given less than Europe.”
At a recent NATO summit in The Hague, Trump said he was “looking into” sending Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine. However, a few days later, the White House confirmed a pause in planned military shipments, including the Patriots, due to a review of U.S. stockpiles.
Trump said Tuesday, “I don’t know” who ordered the pause but added, “Putin is not treating human beings right. He’s killing too many people, so we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine that I have approved.”
He did not specify the types or quantities of the weapons that would be sent.
