Trump turns on Putin in dramatic U-turn as he rages ‘I’m very disappointed’ | World | News

Donald Trump has expressed his disappointment with Vladimir Putin when asked if he would consider trying to capture the Russian leader. The US President chaired a meeting with oil and gas executives in the White House on January 9. 

While the main focus of the event was to discuss the upcoming presence of US oil and gas companies in Venezuela, Mr Trump also answered an array of questions, ranging from his desire to acquire Greenland to the ongoing war in Ukraine. He was asked by a reporter whether he would ever “capture Vladimir Putin“, following the operation carried out by Washington which saw Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife being taken from their home in Caracas and brought in front of a federal judge in Manhattan.

While he said he didn’t think a similar action would be necessary against the Russian President, he acknowledged his disappointed at the apparent lack of desire in the Kremlin to agree on a fair peace deal that ends the war in Ukraine.

He said: “Well, I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. I think we are going to have… I have always had a great relationship with him, I am very disappointed.”

The US President went on to repeat the claim he has “settled eight wars” since returning to the White House in January, adding he thought bringing peace to Ukraine, which was unlawfully invaded in February 2022 by Russian troops, would be “one of the easier” of these tasks.

Mr Trump has often spoken about his warm relationship with Putin, displayed also when the two presidents met in Alaska in August.

In the past, he blamed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Joe Biden, for the unlawful war.

Today isn’t the first time he turns on Putin. In September, during a joint press conference with Sir Keir Starmer that marked the culmination of a two-day state visit to the UK, Mr Trump said Putin had “let me down”.

He added: “He’s killing many people, and he’s losing more people than he’s killing. The Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers.”

He also admitted he thought negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine would be easier given his relationship with the Kremlin leader, but added “he let me down, he really let me down.”