United States President Donald Trump says he is very angry with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, over his recent actions.
Putin had on Friday called for Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian president, to be pushed aside for a transitional government.
In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump expressed displeasure at Putin for his comments.
“If I feel we’re in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right direction,” Trump said.
“New leadership means you’re not gonna have a deal for a long time,” he added.
Trump also threatened to target Russia’s economy with taxes if the ceasefire negotiations failed.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” he said.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States.
“There will be a 25 percent tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil,” Trump added.
The US president noted that the tariffs would come in a month without a ceasefire deal.
Trump’s terse tone is a sharp diversion from the soft approach he has taken in recent times as part of attempts to coerce Putin into ending the Ukraine invasion—a tactic alien from traditional US alliances and criticised by European leaders.
Moscow did not immediately react to the US president’s comments.
Trump said he would speak to Putin later in the week.
It is a rare move by Trump to criticise Putin, whom he has generally spoken positively about during discussions to end the war in Ukraine.
Last month, he also released a barrage of critical comments about Zelensky’s leadership, calling him a “dictator” and making unfounded claims that he had “poor approval” ratings in Ukraine.
