Trump again criticises Putin as Ukraine war heats up
US President Donald Trump has again expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the intensifying Ukraine conflict, a day after warning that Putin was "playing with fire" by resisting ceasefire talks while escalating drone and missile attacks.
But Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he was not yet prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia because he did not want the penalties to scuttle a potential peace deal.
Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, also on Wednesday. There was no immediate response from Kyiv.
The public squabble between the US and Russia unfolded as the three-year-old war heats up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front.
Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met earlier this month in Istanbul under pressure from Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two, but the talks failed to yield the ceasefire that Kyiv and its Western allies have pushed for. Moscow said certain conditions needed to be met before a ceasefire agreement.
Asked whether the Russian leader might be intentionally delaying negotiations, Trump said, "We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is, we'll respond a little differently."
After speaking to Trump on May 19, Putin said he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum which would set out the contours of a peace accord including the timing of a ceasefire.
Putin's demands for ending the war include a written pledge from Western leaders that NATO will not expand eastward to former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia and the lifting of some sanctions on Russia, according to Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump had warned Putin that he was "playing with fire" and that "really bad" things would have happened to Russia already if not for Trump himself.
Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told a state TV reporter that Trump's remark suggested he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war.
Russia said on Wednesday it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine's military said it had struck several Russian weapon production sites.
Ukraine said Russia had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles.
After Russia said in late April it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the western Kursk region, Moscow's forces have pushed over the border into the neighbouring Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine and taken several villages there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there.
Speaking in Berlin during a visit by Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany and Ukraine will develop the joint production of long-range missiles, a move the Kremlin said was irresponsible and amounted to stoking the war.
Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said that the US-led NATO military alliance was using the Ukrainian crisis to build up its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic but that Russia was advancing along the entire front in Ukraine.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
44 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
MAGA v the monarch: Is King Charles blowing royal raspberries at Trump?
But venture he did. And, not for the first time since Trump's restoration, he seemed happy to become the leading man in an intricately choreographed act of geopolitical theatre directed against the White House. Loading In Ottawa he essentially reprised the role he played on the weekend after the Ukrainian president got roughed up in the Oval Office by Trump and his vice-presidential henchman J.D. Vance. Then he welcomed a bruised Volodymyr Zelensky to Sandringham, his East Anglian estate. Arranged at warp speed, that meeting was also rapid royal rebuttal. A very British middle finger. The government of Keir Starmer also knows how to play the royal card, using it both to charm Trump and to chide him. Trump, whose mother was born in the Western Isles of Scotland, is an arch monarchist who idolised Queen Elizabeth II and does not seem particularly perturbed that Charles is the most 'woke' monarch ever to occupy the British throne. The simple fact that Charles comes with the title 'His Royal Highness' and enjoys the kind of dynastic privilege money cannot buy, gives him a form of diplomatic immunity. No matter that Charles is gently mocked by family members, I am told, for being to the left of George Monbiot, one of The Guardian's most progressive columnists. So Trump, who is so easily flattered, instantly took the bait when Prime Minister Starmer, in full reality-TV mode, pulled out an envelope during an Oval Office fireside chat in February that contained a personal invitation from the King for an unprecedented second UK state visit. Since then Starmer has been at the forefront of the European rearguard to protect Ukraine from both President Putin's warmongering and President Trump's supine peacemaking. Yet despite Starmer playing a double diplomatic game, the promise of that presidential visit to Britain seems to have kept him in Trump's good graces. Proof came in the form of a new trade deal with the United States earlier this month, the first negotiated by an international leader since 'Liberation Day'. What of 'Independence Day', I hear you bellow. Why is Trump being allowed by his party, the Republicans, to act like a monarch? This is not so historically perverse as it seems. The American revolution, after all, was primarily a rebellion against the British parliament rather than the British king. The complaint of some leading revolutionaries was that after the Glorious Revolution in the late 17th century the British parliament had usurped too many monarchical prerogatives, and that King George should have overruled Westminster in managing his insurgent North American colonies. In 1776 it was possible to be both a revolutionary and a royalist. Alexander Hamilton, despite the myth-making of the brilliant Broadway musical, fitted this description. After the Americans triumphed over the British, this strand of thinking shaped the new US Constitution, and in particular its creation of a strong executive branch. An irony of the War of Independence is that the United States ended up with a new head of state with more powers than the deposed king. The titles under consideration for what eventually became known as the presidency reflected this kingly bent: 'His Elective Highness', 'His Supremacy', 'His Mightiness', 'His Magistracy' and, yes, 'His Majesty'. As for Britain's current monarch, Trump's subversion of America's postwar alliance system means he now stands at the head of a revitalised Commonwealth of Nations, a friendlier pact altogether. Loading Trump's antagonistic relationship with Europe has also enabled Starmer to reset relations with the European Union, sealed earlier this month with the renegotiation of the Brexit deal, and become a more weighty global player. Perhaps Trump has helped Britain, after losing its empire, finally find a role: to use the soft power of the monarchy, its one-time figurehead of imperialism, to thwart the territorial expansionism of its former colony. It's a joust for the ages. The monarch against MAGA. King Charles against King Donald.
The Age
44 minutes ago
- The Age
MAGA v the monarch: Is King Charles blowing royal raspberries at Trump?
But venture he did. And, not for the first time since Trump's restoration, he seemed happy to become the leading man in an intricately choreographed act of geopolitical theatre directed against the White House. Loading In Ottawa he essentially reprised the role he played on the weekend after the Ukrainian president got roughed up in the Oval Office by Trump and his vice-presidential henchman J.D. Vance. Then he welcomed a bruised Volodymyr Zelensky to Sandringham, his East Anglian estate. Arranged at warp speed, that meeting was also rapid royal rebuttal. A very British middle finger. The government of Keir Starmer also knows how to play the royal card, using it both to charm Trump and to chide him. Trump, whose mother was born in the Western Isles of Scotland, is an arch monarchist who idolised Queen Elizabeth II and does not seem particularly perturbed that Charles is the most 'woke' monarch ever to occupy the British throne. The simple fact that Charles comes with the title 'His Royal Highness' and enjoys the kind of dynastic privilege money cannot buy, gives him a form of diplomatic immunity. No matter that Charles is gently mocked by family members, I am told, for being to the left of George Monbiot, one of The Guardian's most progressive columnists. So Trump, who is so easily flattered, instantly took the bait when Prime Minister Starmer, in full reality-TV mode, pulled out an envelope during an Oval Office fireside chat in February that contained a personal invitation from the King for an unprecedented second UK state visit. Since then Starmer has been at the forefront of the European rearguard to protect Ukraine from both President Putin's warmongering and President Trump's supine peacemaking. Yet despite Starmer playing a double diplomatic game, the promise of that presidential visit to Britain seems to have kept him in Trump's good graces. Proof came in the form of a new trade deal with the United States earlier this month, the first negotiated by an international leader since 'Liberation Day'. What of 'Independence Day', I hear you bellow. Why is Trump being allowed by his party, the Republicans, to act like a monarch? This is not so historically perverse as it seems. The American revolution, after all, was primarily a rebellion against the British parliament rather than the British king. The complaint of some leading revolutionaries was that after the Glorious Revolution in the late 17th century the British parliament had usurped too many monarchical prerogatives, and that King George should have overruled Westminster in managing his insurgent North American colonies. In 1776 it was possible to be both a revolutionary and a royalist. Alexander Hamilton, despite the myth-making of the brilliant Broadway musical, fitted this description. After the Americans triumphed over the British, this strand of thinking shaped the new US Constitution, and in particular its creation of a strong executive branch. An irony of the War of Independence is that the United States ended up with a new head of state with more powers than the deposed king. The titles under consideration for what eventually became known as the presidency reflected this kingly bent: 'His Elective Highness', 'His Supremacy', 'His Mightiness', 'His Magistracy' and, yes, 'His Majesty'. As for Britain's current monarch, Trump's subversion of America's postwar alliance system means he now stands at the head of a revitalised Commonwealth of Nations, a friendlier pact altogether. Loading Trump's antagonistic relationship with Europe has also enabled Starmer to reset relations with the European Union, sealed earlier this month with the renegotiation of the Brexit deal, and become a more weighty global player. Perhaps Trump has helped Britain, after losing its empire, finally find a role: to use the soft power of the monarchy, its one-time figurehead of imperialism, to thwart the territorial expansionism of its former colony. It's a joust for the ages. The monarch against MAGA. King Charles against King Donald.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Trump hails Musk as he announces joint press conference
US President Donald Trump has praised Elon Musk and says he will hold a press conference with the tech billionaire, whose tenure in the administration ended. "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Elon is terrific!" The president said the press conference will be held in the Oval Office on Friday. Musk announced he was stepping down from his White House stint on Wednesday, giving Tesla investors some succour after shares slumped this year in part due to the backlash to his support of Trump and right-wing parties in Europe. The billionaire spearheaded Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency(DOGE), charged with cutting federal spending. On Tuesday, Musk criticised the price tag of Republicans' tax and budget legislation making its way through Congress. In addition, he had recently pledged to spend less money on politics after he plunked down nearly $US300 million on Trump's presidential campaign and on other Republican candidates last year. A former DOGE staffer said without Musk in the Trump administration, his cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency project is likely to sputter out. Software engineer Sahil Lavingia, who spent almost two months working for the group of pro-Musk technologists, said he expects DOGE to quickly "fizzle out." "It'll just die a whimper," Lavingia, who was fired from DOGE earlier this month, told Reuters. "So much of the appeal and allure was Elon." He said he expected DOGE staffers to "just stop showing up to work. It's like kids joining a startup that will go out of business in four months." That would cap a remarkable undoing for DOGE, which Musk initially vowed would cut $US2 trillion in federal spending. Instead, DOGE estimates its efforts have saved around $US175 billion so far and the group's tallies have been riddled with errors. Lavingia, the 32-year-old founder and CEO of creator platform Gumroad, said he was recruited by DOGE through a personal contact and joined the team in March.
