U.S. President Turns Fire on Russian President and Lauds UK

Reuters

U.S. Donald Trump's press conference with British PM Keir Starmer.

U.S. President Donald Trump has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of letting him down in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during which the U.S. president piled criticism on Moscow’s leader.

Speaking on Thursday, President Trump said he had hoped to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine soon after entering office, but claimed Putin’s actions had prevented him from doing so.

The remarks came during an hour-long press conference alongside Starmer, marking the culmination of a two-day state visit that was heavy on ceremony and symbolism. Trump largely avoided direct clashes with the prime minister on sensitive issues such as Palestinian statehood and free speech, though he caused discomfort by suggesting Starmer could bring in the army to deal with irregular migration.

His comments on President Putin, however, were embraced by British officials, who have sought to use Trump’s second state visit to further isolate Russia on the world stage.

Putin “has let me down,” President Trump said. “He’s killing many people, and he’s losing more people than he’s killing. The Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers.”

President Trump added that he had believed it would be straightforward to negotiate a truce between Russia and Ukraine “because of my relationship with President Putin … but he’s let me down, he’s really let me down.”

The U.S. president also lavished praise on the royal family, PM Starmer, and Britain itself. “We’re grateful beyond words for the spectacular honour of the state visit yesterday at Windsor Castle, hosted by His Majesty King Charles and Her Majesty Queen Camilla,” he said, before describing the UK as “these beautiful, magnificent isles.”

“These are two fantastic people,” he added, following a Red Devils parachute display on the lawn at Chequers.

During the wide-ranging press conference, President Trump weighed in on multiple issues: wind power — “a very expensive joke”; the sacking of U.S. television host Jimmy Kimmel — “not a talented person”; and his predecessor Joe Biden — “never the brightest bulb in the ceiling.”

He brushed off a question about Peter Mandelson, saying he had never known him, despite their past meetings.

On Palestinian statehood, President Trump noted his disagreement with PM Starmer but downplayed the issue, calling it “one of our few disagreements.” He also gave advice on tackling small boat crossings into the UK: “I told the prime minister I would stop it. It doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use, but it destroys countries from within.”

To the relief of Downing Street advisers, he avoided commenting on free speech in Britain, following the recent arrests of Lucy Connolly and Graham Linehan over social media posts.

Instead, President Trump’s strongest language was reserved for Russia. He said in the past he had blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former U.S. President Joe Biden for the war, but recently shifted his stance, now portraying Russia as the aggressor and focusing blame squarely on Putin.

“I spoke to President Putin about Ukraine, it was the apple of his eye,” he said. “But he would have never done what he did, except that he didn’t respect the leadership of the United States.”

Even so, President Trump resisted Starmer’s calls for tougher sanctions on Moscow.

PM Starmer said: “It’s only when the president has put pressure on Putin that he’s actually shown any inclination to move.”

President Trump responded by pointing to global oil prices. “If the price of oil comes down, Putin is going to drop out,” he said. “He’s going to have no choice. He’s going to drop out of that war.”

This article was originally published by The Guardian. PUKMEDIA has made additional edits.



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