President Donald Trump on Tuesday signaled that his patience with Vladimir Putin is running thin, warning the Russian leader that he is “playing with fire” by refusing to engage in serious peace talks about ending the war in Ukraine, Politico reports.
But Trump, frustrated that Putin has shrugged at his offer to reset relations with the U.S. following a peace settlement, still hasn’t decided to shift gears.
“Putin is getting dangerously close to burning the golden bridge that Trump has set out before him,” said an administration official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to share details about the president’s current thinking.
Trump has yet to make a decision on whether to impose additional sanctions on Moscow in response to Putin ramping up attacks on Ukraine, according to four U.S. officials.
Pro-Ukraine allies on Capitol Hill are treading carefully as they urge the White House to consider following up on his threats to Putin by backing their effort to enact new sanctions. And allies in Europe, facing the possibility that Trump could walk away from peace talks without punishing Russia, are scrambling to figure out how they could tackle taking the lead on support for Ukraine
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. “He’s playing with fire!”
Trump also told reporters on Sunday that he was “absolutely” considering additional economic sanctions on Russia and described Putin as having “gone absolutely CRAZY” in a social media post.