Russia and Ukraine

[Thumpalumpacus]

President Trump said he is “very angry” and “pissed off” at remarks Russian President Vladimir Putin made Friday about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, suggesting he is not a legitimate leader.

The president threatened to slap a new tariff on Russia if it is at fault for stalling an end “to bloodshed.”

“If I feel, if we’re in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that — you know, when Putin started getting into Zelensky’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right location, you understand?” Trump told NBC News’s Kristen Welker during a phone interview on Sunday.

The Russian president said Friday that his Ukrainian counterpart does not have the legitimacy required for a peace deal signature and suggested an interim government is needed, The Associated Press reported. Ukraine’s 2024 presidential elections were postponed due to martial law amid the war with Russia.

Putin said any agreement signed on to by Ukraine’s government could receive pushback.

“Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine,” he said Friday, according to the AP, later saying that “democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty” would be able to happen via the temporary governance.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administrat...a-ukraine/

1) We only have about $3.6b in trade with Russia. What the fuck is a tariff going to solve?

2) I'm shocked, nay, gobsmacked that @Belacqua has not mentioned anything about how Russia is dragging its feet on any peace agreement even as he accuses the Ukrainians and Americans of wanting to keep fighting.