US President Donald Trump has said during an interview with NBC that he is "very angry" and "pissed off" with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the latter criticised the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The US president also added that Putin's comments were “not going in the right location.”
Putin had suggested on Friday that Ukraine be put under temporary UN control until a "competent" government was elected. The suggestion was dismissed by Washington, as Putin once again took aim at the government in Kyiv and Zelenskyy whom the Kremlin continues to accuse of being "illegitimate".
Providing more insight into his reasoning, Trump added that “New leadership means you’re not going to have a deal for a long time, right?”
Trump also said during the interview that “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.”
It was a significant change of tone towards Russia by Trump, who said he would be speaking to Putin during the coming week.
Russia and Ukraine this month agreed in principle to a limited 30-day ceasefire in the Black Sea, but both sides have since continued to attack each other with drones and missiles.
Trump threatens to bomb Iran
During a separate interview on Saturday, Trump threatened to "bomb" Iran and apply "secondary tariffs" to the country if Iran refused to make a nuclear deal with the US to ensure it didn't develop the weapon.
Trump stated, “If they don’t make a deal,” he continued, “there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
According to Trump, US and Iranian officials are in contact.
But on Sunday, Iran's president said that the Islamic Republic refused direct talks with the United States regarding its rapidly advancing nuclear programme, marking Tehran's first response to a letter sent by Trump to the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
