Trump-Putin relationship sours as president pushes for Ukraine settlement

2025-08-08 14:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

While President Donald Trump previously didn't speak ill of Russian President Vladimir Putin, those days are over.

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has changed the nature of their dynamic. Although the two seemed to get along well, at least publicly, during the first Trump administration, their relationship has deteriorated as the latest conflict continues.

In recent weeks, Trump has refused to mince words when asked about Putin. Trump said during a cabinet meeting on July 8 that he was fed up with Putin and said he was considering imposing new sanctions on Russia.

"Putin curses at us a lot, if you want to know the truth," Trump said. "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out he's stupid."

John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Russia began to draw Trump's ire in March, after Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. But Russia has failed to implement a ceasefire.

"In fact, ever since then, I think Trump has seen the Russians as the main obstacle to a deal," Hardie told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Furthermore, Hardie said that Trump is also frustrated by the fact that Russia will launch drone and missile attacks against Ukraine, even after speaking directly with Putin.

"He's kind of obsessed with these Russian drone and missile attacks," Hardie said. "He seems to really enjoy that."

Tensions have continued to escalate between the US and Russia since the July cabinet meeting.

Trump announced on July 14 that he would impose "tough tariffs" on Russia if Moscow failed to agree to a peace deal within 50 days. He later sharply reduced the deadline to just 10-12 days - which ends on Friday.

The decision to shorten the deadline prompted former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to warn that "every new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war."

In addition to economic sanctions, Trump responded to Medvedev and issued a rare statement revealing that two US Navy submarines would be relocated in response to growing threats from Russia.

"I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than that," Trump said on August 1.

Trump's revelation of the submarine presence puts additional pressure on Russia to sit at the negotiating table, according to Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

"We've used submarines very rarely to influence adversary behavior before, but this is quite unusual, to do this against a nuclear-powered adversary like Russia in response to a nuclear threat from Russia," Clark told Fox News Digital on Monday. "So I think this is essentially trying to counter Russia's frequent and early threats to use nuclear weapons in part of the Ukraine conflict."

However, momentum in the negotiations is building, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Wednesday.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social afterward that “great progress” was made during the meeting. And now, Trump and Putin are expected to meet face-to-face soon in an effort to advance negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

However, Hardie said he is skeptical that the meeting between Putin and Trump will result in significant progress.

"I don't expect a summit to produce much," Hardie said. "And I think Putin could try to use the summit to appease Trump and buy more time to continue the attack on Ukraine, but I think his goal is that he would like to be able to involve Trump in his efforts to impose these tough conditions on Ukraine."

Russia has demanded concessions in a peace deal that include barring Ukraine from joining NATO, preventing foreign peacekeeping troops from being deployed in Ukraine after the conflict, and adjusting some borders that were previously Ukrainian.

It is not clear whether Trump plans to announce any additional economic burdens on Russia on Friday, in line with the deadline he set demanding that Russia signal a willingness to end the conflict. But according to Trump, the ball is in Putin's court.

"It's going to be up to him," Trump told reporters Thursday. "We'll see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. I'm very disappointed."

The White House did not reveal any details about the possible sanctions on Friday, but said Trump wants to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Putin to resolve the conflict.

"The Russians have expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting," White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "President Trump would like to meet with both President Putin and President Zelensky because he wants this brutal war to end. The White House is working on the details of these potential meetings, and details will be provided in due course."/ CNA, translated by Fox News