US President Donald Trump admitted that the Russian leadership has been able to cope with Western sanctions, adding that in the wake of the recent Russian attack, President Vladmir Putin knows that additional sanctions are coming.
“He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) has been able to handle sanctions,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One.
Trump said the topic of restrictions against Russia was raised in a recent conversation with Putin at length.
“We talk about sanctions a lot, yeah. I would say he’s not thrilled with it… he understands that it may be coming, and, you know, he’s a professional,” he said.
The statement comes amidst Russia’s overnight launch of drones and missiles on Ukraine in one of Moscow’s largest aerial attacks in the war, where it launched 550 drones and 11 missiles directly at Kyiv.
While Ukrainian air defence systems were able to intercept a majority of them, a sizeable 72 projectiles managed to bypass the systems and target Ukrainian infrastructure.
Trump also noted that he was “very unhappy” with his July 3 telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “He wants to go all the way, just killing people. It’s no good,” he said, reports state media TASS.
Following the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called for even greater actions against Russia, asking the West to undertake stringent measures against Moscow.
Recently, the US had suspended a consignment of weapon systems to Ukraine which included Patriot air defence missiles, GMLRS precision-guided munitions, Hellfire guided missiles, and Stinger portable anti-aircraft missile systems, citing a lack of domestic supply, giving a significant blow to Kyiv whose own supplies are also running low.
Despite the massive sanctions imposed on Russia by the West and NATO, with Trump claiming that he’s been harsher with sanctions on Moscow than any other country, including Iran and North Korea, the country has been able to stave off any major economic setbacks, with its economy still managing to grow.
