Trump calls Putin an obstacle to peace, says he's tired of his games – The Telegraph

US President Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and now sees him as a bigger obstacle to peace in Ukraine than President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Source: The Telegraph, citing sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Sources told The Telegraph that Trump's decision to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker and support a new sanctions bill had been intended as a message to Putin that his time to end the war is running out.

A source close to the president's inner circle said: "He works around a carrot and stick approach. And I think he's all out of carrots."

Another source added that Trump finds the Russian strategy of "two steps forward, one step back" in talks increasingly exhausting.

Previously, Trump had spoken favourably of Putin and suggested Ukraine was to blame for the war. However, according to several current and former Washington officials, the Trump administration's stance is now aligning more closely with the European view that Putin is playing a game with no end.

Russia launched ballistic missiles and drones on Kyiv the day before Zelenskyy met Trump at Mar-a-Lago late last year. A UK official said this had prompted Trump's administration to adopt a position closer to the European perspective on the war than ever before. The official said that Putin's ongoing brutality, deceitful behaviour and gamesmanship are not going unnoticed by the administration.

Background:

• At a recent press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump expressed his personal irritation with Putin, saying: "I'm not thrilled with Putin; he kills too many people."
• On 7 January, US special forces risked confrontation with Moscow when they boarded a Russian-registered tanker subject to sanctions.
• Hours later, the White House confirmed that Trump had given the "green light" to the sanctions bill during a meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham.

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