US President Donald Trump on Thursday said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with whom he held a summit last month, has “put him down,” accusing him of prolonging the Ukraine war. This comes just a month after the two leaders met in Alaska, though the meeting didn’t bear any fruit.
“He is killing many people. He’s let me down. He has really let me down,” Trump told reporters in London on Thursday, speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The remarks were also echoed in a post on the official presidential account, which read: “He’s killing many people, and he’s losing more people than he’s killing. Yeah, he’s let me down.”
Alaska summit ends without breakthrough
On August 15, Trump and Putin held talks in Alaska aimed at ending the conflict, but the summit concluded without an agreement or even a pause in hostilities. Since then, fighting between Moscow and Kyiv has shown no signs of slowing.
Earlier this month, at least 47 people were injured when Russian missiles hit a shopping mall and events complex in Kharkiv. The attack followed what Moscow described as one of Ukraine’s largest drone strikes, targeting power plants and an oil refinery, while Russian troops advanced towards a strategic town in the east.
‘I resolved seven conflicts’: Trump
During his visit to the UK, Trump said he had successfully resolved seven disputes since taking office—conflicts he described as previously “unsolvable.” At a NATO summit in June, where members pledged to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, Trump claimed the Ukraine war would be “the simplest to end,” pointing to his close ties with Putin.
However, he admitted on Thursday that Putin had “let him down” by failing to ease hostilities.
‘Obligation to end Ukraine war’
Pressed on his next steps to resolve the crisis, Trump repeated his campaign claim that the war would not have started if he had been president at the time of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
He reiterated that he feels “an obligation to settle the war in Ukraine,” stressing that he remains hopeful for “good news” soon, even while noting the conflict does not directly affect the United States.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed he could end the war “within 24 hours.” Since then, he has held multiple conversations with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an effort to broker peace.
Keep up pressure on Putin: Starmer
Prime Minister Starmer, standing alongside Trump in London, emphasised that sustained pressure on Russia remained essential. He argued that Putin has only shown willingness to engage when faced with strong pressure from the US president.
