Trump says Putin let him down over Ukraine
發佈日期: 2025-09-19 21:23
TVB News
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have returned to the US after a state visit to the UK. The situation in Ukraine proved high on the agenda during the trip.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer highlighted the need for greater pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. US President Trump said Putin had let him down.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived at Joint Base Andrews after having travelled to the UK for a state visit, meeting with the British Royals in Windsor on Wednesday, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers on Thursday.
Among the topics tackled mostly in private talks between Trump and Starmer were the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and US tariff rates on steel imported from the UK.
While the prime minister has played a major part in European efforts to shore up US support for Ukraine, Trump's visit offered few major advancements.
Starmer stressed the need to continue ramping up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We have to put extra pressure on Putin and it's only when the president has put pressure on Putin that he's actually shown any inclination to move," said Trump. "So we have to ramp that pressure up. I think it's important to have this conversation in the context of what's happened in recent weeks. We saw damage and bombing to the British Council in Kyiv. These are targets that it was thought until recently were not targets that would be hit: the British Council, the European Union embassy, the Council of Ministers, where President Zelensky's ministers work, was hit again.
"These were thought to be places that wouldn't be hit and then the incursion into Poland last week and if you put that together, what you can see is either an emboldenment or at least an increased recklessness on Putin's part."
The US president expressed frustration with Putin, but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia.
Said Trump: "I'm very honoured to tell you that we've solved seven wars, seven wars, wars that were unsolvable, wars that couldn't be negotiated or done. We've done. The US has done seven of them. The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin. But he's let me down. He's really let me down.
"Who is going to be Russia and Ukraine. But we'll see how that turns out. But, that turned out to be I thought it might be among the easiest of the group, but we settled just about every conflict. And as you know, we're working very hard on Israel and Gaza. All that's happening over there is complex. But it's going to be, it's going to get done. We'll get done right. And likewise, Russia and Ukraine will get done."
Meanwhile, the head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency said there is "absolutely no evidence" Putin wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine.
Sir Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it is more commonly known, said Putin was "stringing the west along."
Moore said Putin "seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal, but he cannot succeed."
