US President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over peace talks in Ukraine, as he hinted at interest in placing fresh sanctions on Moscow.
Donald Trump has said he is unhappy with his Russian counterpart, whose war with Ukraine the US president is seeking to end.
"We get a lot of bullsh**t 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," Donald Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House.
On being asked about his interest in a bill proposed by the Senate for further sanctions on Russia, the US president replied, “I am looking at it very strongly.”
Trump's latest blast at Putin came a day after the US leader said he would send more weapons to Ukraine, in a reversal of Washington's announcement last week that it was halting some arms shipments.
Trump, who alarmed Kyiv and western allies with his pivot towards Putin soon after returning to the White House, confirmed that decision on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}Trump, who alarmed Kyiv and western allies with his pivot towards Putin soon after returning to the White House, confirmed that decision on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}"Putin is not treating human beings right. He's killing too many people. So we are sending some defensive weapons and I have approved that," Trump said.
Trump has promised to immediately send 10 Patriot interceptors – anti-missile systems – to Ukraine, according to US news website Axios.
He also urged Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth to push defense contractors to increase production of armaments.
"We have to step them up, Pete, and let them make it at a much higher rate," he said.
What Russia said
Russia had no immediate reaction to Trump's strong- worded comments about Putin -- which come just two weeks after he also cursed while talking about the conflict between Israel and Iran.
But the Kremlin said that sending arms to Ukraine only serves to prolong the conflict.
"It is obvious of course that these actions probably do not align with attempts to promote a peaceful resolution," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying in a briefing.
Ukrainian officials have been left scrambling for clarity following the contradictory announcements from Washington.
Any pause in weapons deliveries poses a serious challenge for Kyiv, which is contending with some of Russia's largest missile and drone attacks of the war.
Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from Trump.
Moscow said Monday that its forces captured its first village in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region after advancing towards it for months.
The village of Dachne is in an important industrial mining territory that has come under mounting Russian air attacks.
Last month, Moscow said its forces had crossed the border into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its campaign.
Russia also launched a fresh large-scale drone and missile barrage on Monday including on Ukraine's military recruitment centers.
Kyiv said it carried out a drone attack on a Russian ammunition factory in the Moscow region.
Ukraine has so far denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk. Ukraine's military said earlier Monday its forces "repelled" attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, including "in the vicinity" of Dachne.
Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea -- that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.
Describing the situation in Dnipropetrovsk as "difficult" for Kyiv's forces, Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Kopytko said Russia hopes to create some kind of buffer zone in the region.