Trump said he'd end Ukraine war in 24 hours. Now his patience with Putin is wearing thin.
President Donald Trumpsaid he would end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in office. But now, more than 4,000 hours in, Trump'spatience with Vladimir Putin, whom the U.S. president only last month called "very kind," appears to be wearing thin. Relations have hit a wall as Russia's leader has pushed forward withintensifying droneand missile attacks on Ukrainian cities while appearing to repeatedly rebuff Trump's attempts to broker a ceasefire. "We get a lot of b**shit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,"Trump told reporterson July 9, summing up what Ukrainians and other seasoned Russia watchers have been saying for two decades. "He's very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Here's how the Trump-Putin geopolitical love affair turned sour. Trump initiated direct talks with Putin shortly after taking office, saying − much to Putin's delight − that he was effectively ready to let Russia keep the Ukrainian territory it had already taken when Moscow invaded Kyiv in February 2022. Trump also said that Ukraine's Crimea region, which Putin seized in 2014, "will stay with Russia." At the same time, Trump said he was not interested in spending more on Ukraine's defense, an issue that exploded out into the open whenUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyvisited the White House in February. "You don't have the cards right now," Trump told Zelensky in remarks that were carried live on TV and appeared to belittle Ukraine's leader. Trump said Putin had been the victim of a "phony" American "witch hunt." He said Ukraine would need to make concessions and started pressing Kyiv to sign an agreement over itsmineral wealth. 'My favorite president':Donald Trump and the art of world leader bromances American intelligence agencies and officials have for years struggled to understand Putin's precise foreign policy goals. In Ukraine, their best guess is he wants to weaken it as much as possible as part of an effort to keep it out of the NATO military alliance and retain or restore Russia's cultural and economic sphere of influence around its borders. That means grabbing Ukraine's land and wearing down the morale of its people and communities through wave after wave of drone and missile attacks that havekilled thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations. War crimes in Ukraine:Kyiv's push for swift justice What Putin has made clear, at least in the timeframe that he's renewed talks with the White House, is that he's still intent on pounding Ukraine to deadly effect. In fact, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, Russia's drone and missile strikes on Ukraine have increased following Trump's January inauguration. It has appeared to take Trump some time to publicly acknowledge this. But he did eventually, saying in April, "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing.Vladimir, STOP!" One Ukrainian who lives in Kyiv said in a WhatsApp message that he, his wife and kids are "going completely mad" with having to repeatedly run to bomb shelters, metro stations and underground parking garages to seek shelter at a rate they have not had to do since the start of the 3.5-year-old war. Trump has spent years praising and appearing to carefully avoid criticizing Putin. The origins of this admiration are not well understood. Both men say they first met face-to-face on the sidelines of a 2017 international summit in Germany during Trump's first term. But Trump has also gone on the record saying that he met Putin for the first time in 2013 on a visit to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. Whatever the case, five months ago, Trump said that he knows Putin "very well" and believes he "wants peace" in Ukraine. Still, two rounds of Trump-brokered, indirect ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia have come to nothing. And after multiple phone calls with Putin since taking office, Trump now appears to be shifting his thinking − and actions − on Putin and Russia. After a brief pause, he's ordered the Pentagon torestart shipping weapons to Ukraine.The White House is ramping up pressure on European countries to pitch in more to support theair defense suppliesthat Ukraine most needs. Some countries have complied in recent days. Momentum is building for bipartisan legislation that would impose severe sanctions on Russia − amounting to a 500% tariff − on any country that buys, sells or supplies Russian oil, gas and petroleum if Russia refuses to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said that the bill could be ready for a vote as soon as this month. "We need a Russia sanctions bill that puts some real constraints on the ability of the president to play on again, off again, withVladimir Putin," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in an interview. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on July 10 in Malaysia that Moscow had presented a "new concept" that could open the door to peace during a meeting he had with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Rubio said they shared some ideas and information that he would take back to Trump. Trump, for his part, has teased a "major"statement on Russiaearly next week. Is the bromance finally over? Did it ever really start? Putin is a former KGB officer who has long trafficked in misinformation, disinformation, propaganda and outright lies. Trump often makesfalse or misleadingclaims in his speeches and social media posts. "Trump," former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Bill Taylor said in amedia appearancethis week, "has now figured it out that Putin is the problem." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:How the Trump-Putin bromance flowered − then soured
Trump said he'd end Ukraine war in 24 hours. Now his patience with Putin is wearing thin. President Donald Trumpsaid he would end the wa...
