Shaun
Donald Trump was caught off-guard by the Pentagon’s decision to announce a pause in some weapons deliveries last week to Ukraine, three people aware of the situation have said. One of the people described Mr Trump, who privately expressed frustration with Pentagon officials, as being caught “flat footed” by the announcement.
The Trump administration is in the eye of a storm after the Pentagon announced last week that it would hold back some air defence missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons pledged to Ukraine because of what US officials said were concerns that American stockpiles were running short on supply.
Mr Trump marked a U-turn on Monday and said the US will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, effectively reversing the move, as he showed signs of growing frustration with the Russian leader.
In a televised meeting of top officials, Mr Trump said: “We get a lot of bull**** 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”. On the war front, Polish and allied aircraft were activated in the early hours today after Russia launched air strikes hitting western Ukraine, officials said.
Kremlin: ‘We believe the US sanctions on Russia are illegal’
The Kremlin has commented on US president Trump’s involvement between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow hinted at a change in its relationship with the US, with the potential of beginning trade trade and economic relations.
They also called US sanctions on Russia “illegal”, decrying them for harming both Russian and American businesses.
“But at the moment, the United States is implementing a number of restrictions. We believe that these sanctions are illegal, and they harm not only our entrepreneurs, but also the entrepreneurs of the United States,” Dmytry Peskov said.
Trump says he gets a ‘lot of bull**** thrown by Putin’
US president Donald Trump continued his tirade against his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as he faced delay in ending the Ukraine war while Moscow amped up attacks on its smaller neighbour.
In a televised meeting of top officials, Mr Trump said: “We get a lot of bull**** 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”.
The US president said he is “looking at it very strongly” to impose further sanctions on Russia, without sharing further details but added that any action would come as “a little surprise”.
He has threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia’s oil industry to try to prod Putin into peace talks.
