Starmer listening, Trump says Putin ‘let me down’ but teases ‘good news’ related to Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump said that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had “really let him down” and insisted that US allies must stop purchasing oil from Russia so that the ongoing war between Moscow and Ukraine could come to an end.

The remarks from the American leader came during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the final day of a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom. “Very simply, if the price of oil comes down, Putin is going to drop out,” Trump said Thursday following a meeting with Starmer.

“He’s going to have no choice. He’s going to drop out of that war,” Trump exclaimed. The American leader noted that he is willing to consider other ways to punish Putin. However, he maintained that those moves would be contingent on allies ending purchases of Russian energy. “I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia,” Trump said.

Trump’s remarks on the matter came at a time when the European Union is looking at ways to more quickly phase out Russian liquefied natural gas imports. There are also plans for a meeting between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York next week.

Why Trump’s demand is complicated

The US have been proposing the advancement of secondary tariffs of as high as 100 per cent on Chinese and Indian goods, along with other trade restrictions that are meant to curb the flow of Russian energy. However, aggressive steps, including cutting off energy purchases, are unlikely to be accepted by some nations that can block joint European Union actions.

While speaking on the matter, UK PM Keir Starmer also suggested that some of the European nations hadn’t done enough to wean themselves off Russian energy supplies. “I think it is a challenge to Europe,” he said. “There are several European countries which are too reliant on energy from Russia.”

While onboarding the Air Force One, Trump told reporters that Starmer’s UK was “not one of the culprits” in terms of oil purchases, adding that the UK leader had agreed that allies needed to “stop buying oil from Russia.” The president mentioned that he told Starmer he’d “caught” European countries and NATO members “buying oil from Russia.” “He said, ‘That’s not good,’” Trump said, adding: “I appreciated that he said that.”

It is pertient to note that most European nations have stopped direct purchase of oil from Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022. However, a small volume of energy continues to flow to landlocked nations in Eastern Europe, including Hungary.

Trump’s frustration with Putin

The American leader insisted that he is still committed to ending the Ukraine conflict and repeatedly expressed frustration with Putin. “He has let me down. I mean, he’s killing many people, and he’s losing more people than he’s, you know, than he’s killing,” the American leader said at the Thursday presser.

While speaking to reporters separately, Starmer said that the discussions between the two leaders included “how we can build our defences to further support Ukraine and decisively increase the pressure on Putin to get him to agree a peace deal that will last.”

“In recent days, Putin has shown his true face, mounting the biggest attack since the invasion began with yet more bloodshed, yet more innocents killed and unprecedented violations of NATO airspace,” Starmer said. “These are not the actions of someone who wants peace.”

The British prime minister concluded that it was important for Trump to intervene because it was only with his pressure that Putin had “actually shown any inclination to move.”