Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has greeted Trump’s second term with glowing praise, saying the president showed “courage” in the campaign and won a “convincing victory” in the election. .
But hours later, in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump did not return the favor. The US president has made his most critical comments yet about Mr Putin, declaring that the Russian leader is “destroying Russia” by waging war in Ukraine.
“He’s not going to be excited. It’s not going very well,” Trump told reporters Monday night, referring to Putin’s war. “Russia is bigger and has lost more soldiers, but you can’t run a country like that.”
The flogging underscores why celebrations of Trump’s return to the White House have been quiet in Russia in recent months. Russian officials know Trump is unpredictable. Indeed, Mr. Trump has often spoken kindly of Mr. Putin, and in 2018 he accepted the Russian leader’s words for his country’s intelligence services at a summit in Helsinki.
Still, the situation remains fluid, and Trump said on Monday that he may meet with Putin “soon.” On Tuesday, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, told reporters that Russia was “taking into consideration” Trump’s Oval Office remarks, but that he had not heard back from aides about a possible meeting. He said he was waiting.
“We are ready and open to dialogue with the new US administration regarding the Ukraine conflict,” Ushakov said. “If the relevant signals come from Washington, we will receive them and be ready to negotiate.”
Trump had promised to end the war before taking office, but when asked on Monday how long it would take to stop the fighting, Trump said: “I have to talk to President Putin. We have to figure it out. I guess.”
Putin has made no secret of his eagerness to meet with Trump. Putin said on Monday that he welcomed the US president’s readiness to “restore direct contacts with Russia.”
But Putin is avoiding risks by strengthening existing alliances. Last Friday, President Putin welcomed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Kremlin, and the two sides signed a treaty pledging to strengthen cooperation on military and economic issues. And on Tuesday, Putin had a video call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, greeting him as a “dear friend.”
In Ukraine, Russian forces continue to advance in the east, at a cost that Western officials say is costing them more than 1,000 soldiers a day. In a freewheeling exchange with reporters as he signed an executive order in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump cited Russia’s losses as leverage for a possible deal to end the war.
“He’s fighting hard, but most people thought the war would be over in about a week,” Trump said. “I think he can end the war.”
Trump said last week that he would meet with Putin “very soon” after taking office, and the Russian president said he was ready to meet with Trump. Such a meeting would be a major milestone for Mr. Putin even without a rapprochement in Ukraine, ending three years of near-total isolation imposed by Western leaders.
Ahead of potential talks, Mr. Putin has warned that he will be a tough negotiator and that he has the resources to prevail against Ukraine and the West, even though economic sanctions have placed a severe strain on Russia’s economy. This suggests that they are confident that there is. On Monday, he reiterated his public stance that he wants “long-term peace” rather than a “short-term ceasefire” and will “fight for Russia’s interests.”
The Kremlin defines these interests as retaining already occupied Ukrainian lands, guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO, and other restrictions on the West’s role in Eastern Europe.
