US President Donald Trump has made a striking admission regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that the Kremlin leader may not be serious about ending the war in Ukraine — and hinting that he might need to be “dealt with differently.”
In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Saturday (April 26), Trump criticized The New York Times for allegedly planning to attack any peace deal he might broker between Russia and Ukraine, no matter its merits.
“This is Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine,” Trump wrote. “It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time. I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden.”
However, in a significant shift, Trump publicly questioned Putin’s true intentions, citing Russia’s recent missile attacks on civilian areas in Kyiv.
“With all of that being said, there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns over the last few days,” Trump posted. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions’? Too many people are dying!!!”
On April 24, Kyiv suffered its deadliest Russian attack in nine months. According to reports, at least nine people were killed and over 70 injured after a barrage of missiles and drones targeted the capital and surrounding areas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was abroad at the time, cut short his visit to South Africa and returned home, describing the assault as “one of [Russia’s] most outrageous.”
In another Truth Social post following the attack, Trump publicly appealed to Putin: “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Despite his criticism of Putin, Trump also expressed frustration with Zelenskyy over Ukraine’s firm stance on Crimea, an area annexed by Russia in 2014.
“There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said earlier this week, according to Al Jazeera, rejecting any negotiations that would involve ceding Crimea.
Still, Trump maintained that a peace agreement could be within reach. “We are very close to a deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE,” he urged, referring to Zelenskyy.
Amid these tensions, Trump and Zelenskyy met privately on April 26, ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City. The meeting — their first in-person encounter since earlier this year — lasted about 15 minutes.
According to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov, the two leaders agreed to continue discussions, with their teams working on organizing follow-up talks.
White House spokesman Steven Cheung described the conversation as “very productive,” promising more updates soon.
Both leaders spoke positively after the meeting. Trump characterized it as a step toward moving peace negotiations forward, while Zelenskyy called it a “good meeting” on social media, adding: “We discussed a lot one-on-one. Hoping for results on everything we covered — protecting lives, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a reliable, lasting peace.”
Photographs captured Trump and Zelenskyy engaged in conversation alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer — a symbolic moment as world leaders quietly explore pathways to end the war.