President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to stop mercilessly bombing Ukraine, after Putin launched a deadly wave of attacks on civilians in Kyiv that killed at least eight and injured over 60.
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Putin’s appalling strikes on Ukraine’s capital are an embarrassment for Trump, who had just taken Putin’s side in peace talks. Trump told Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he needed to cede Crimea to Russia and not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in order for the United States to keep helping Ukraine fend off Russian attacks. Those demands are exactly what Putin was seeking.
Trump had also slammed Zelenskyy in a Truth Social post, criticizing the Ukrainian leader for standing up for his country and refusing to give away Crimea:
It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country. I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever. The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the “killing field,” and nobody wants that! We are very close to a Deal, but the man with “no cards to play” should now, finally, GET IT DONE. I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this Complete and Total MESS, that would have never started if I were President!
Vice President JD Vance made similarly inflammatory comments toward Ukraine on Wednesday.
“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” Vance told reporters. “The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Trump administration’s tough talk against Ukraine, while Russia was about to launch its deadliest strikes on the Eastern European country in months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Pretoria, South Africa, for a state visit on April 24.
"The president is not asking Ukraine to recognize Crimea. Nobody has asked them to do that,” Leavitt said, even though the peace deal would have the United States recognize Crimea as part of Russia. “What he is asking is for people to come to the negotiating table recognizing that this has been a brutal war for far too long, and in order to make a good deal, both sides have to walk away a little bit unhappy. And unfortunately, President Zelenskyy has been trying to litigate this peace negotiation in the press, and that’s unacceptable to [Trump].”
Ultimately, Trump—who has frequently taken Russia's side and blamed Ukraine for the conflict it didn't start—has failed to fulfill his promise to end the war within 24 hours of taking office.
This is just the latest failure to add to the pile of Trump’s first 100 days in office, which Americans grade very poorly in opinion polling. For instance, Trump's approval rating now stands at just 44%, down from 52% a week after Inauguration Day, according to The New York Times’ newly released polling averages.
Polling also shows that Americans are unhappy with Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, with a plurality (46%) saying the U.S. is not doing enough to aid Ukraine, according to a Gallup survey from March.
“Until now, the highest percentage of Americans who believed the U.S. was not doing enough to help Ukraine was 38%, recorded in Gallup’s initial measurement of this question in August 2022,” Gallup wrote.
Meanwhile, a Fox News poll released Wednesday found that 61% of registered voters are concerned about Russia's invasion of Ukraine
And Democrats are slamming Trump for consistently taking Putin’s side.
“This isn’t a deal, this is a surrender,” Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado wrote in a post on X, regarding Trump’s peace proposal. “Trump and Vance are doing Putin's bidding. Forcing an invaded country to accept a dictator's terms and threatening to walk out is hardly a negotiation. When the going gets tough, this administration folds—every single time.”
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