US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he’s “not happy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin killing people in Ukraine and he’s “absolutely” considering more sanctions, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports.
“He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump said when asked by reporters for an update on Russia’s latest attacks in Ukraine.
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“We’re in the middle of talking and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all,” Trump said at Morristown airport en route to Washington DC, adding that he’s “surprised at what he’s seeing.”
He went on to add on Putin: “I’ve known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all. OK”
When asked about potential sanctions, Trump said, “Absolutely!”
Trump reiterated that Putin “is killing a lot of people”.
He added: “I don’t like what Putin is doing. Not even a little bit. He’s killing people. And something happened to this guy. And I don’t like it.”
Ukrainian officials on Sunday described the overnight Russian missile and drone attacks as the most massive in terms of the number of weapons used since February 2022. Altogether 367 drones and missiles were reported to have been launched at the war-torn country by Russian forces.
China Urges Ukraine, Russia to Resume Peace Talks
Trump earlier this month floated the idea of sanctioning Russia if the Kremlin doesn’t stop its war in Ukraine. But as he spoke to Putin last Monday, the White House did not mention sanctions in the readout of his call.
US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire, saying that the latest Russian air attack on Ukrainian cities was “a clear violation” of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols, which have been supplemented since June 8, 1977 by two Additional Protocols.
The protocols contain some additional provisions on the protection of civilians and the wounded, and outlaws the use of weapons that “cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.”
US Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), whose hard-hitting “Russia sanctions bill” has already gained over 82 co-sponsors of both parties, also on Sunday reacted to Russian attacks, calling it “outrage” that “will not go unaddressed.”
“Without China’s support, Putin’s war machine comes to a halt,” he posted on social media. Several conservative representatives, including Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) have also raised their voices against the Kremlin’s “barbaric assault” on social media posts.
“The United States cannot fail to respond as Putin escalates his barbaric assault on innocent Ukrainians. Congress must act—immediately and decisively,” Fitzpatrick noted.
He added, “We need full, crippling sanctions—targeting Putin, his regime, and those bankrolling this campaign of terror—until the Russian war machine collapses in on itself. Peace through strength begins with action.”
Bacon, a prominent figure on the Armed Services Committee also noted that Russia has forcefully changed its borders nine times since 1991, and ”there will be a tenth unless we stop them on their ninth.”
“We don’t want to live in a world where Russia and China can bully their neighbors and our allies every time they saber rattle with their nukes,” he added.
Another Congressman, Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told CBS News that “Trump and his acolytes in the Congress will go along with one of these two choices”
“Either we will continue the trajectory that started when the president and the vice president humiliated President Zelensky in the Oval Office and paused aid.. or we can take another path, which... is to generate maximum leverage against Vladimir Putin,” he said.
Himes concluded: “I see the president [Trump] getting a little frustrated by [Putin] but that maximum leverage comes because we really uptick the sanctions. We stop the export of oil. We pressure India to stop buying Russian oil, and of course, we keep arming the Ukrainians.”
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