Russia has spoken out on the state of its relationship with the United States after leaked tapes revealed Donald Trump threatening to 'bomb the s**t out of Moscow'.
The leak came from a series of audio tapes recorded at 2024 fundraisers, which were attended by Trump donors as part of his presidential re-election campaign.
The tapes have since been obtained by authors Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, who reported on some of the comments in their new book, 2024.
In the audio, which was also provided to CNN, the soon-to-be POTUS spoke about his plans to try and put an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, including ideas to deter Russian president Vladimir Putin from launching attacks against the neighboring country.
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In the tapes, Trump said: "With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice'. And then [Putin] goes, like, ‘I don’t believe you.’ But he believed me 10 percent.”
The president has since continued to make clear that he's 'not happy' with Putin over the failure to reach a peace deal with Ukraine, and on July 8 Trump told a cabinet meeting the US gets 'a lot of bulls**t thrown at us by Putin'.
The president claimed that the Russian president is 'very nice all the time' in their encounters, but added: "It turns out to be meaningless.”
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Three days on, Russian deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has spoken to the RIA news agency about where the country stands in its relationship with the US.
While some of Trump's comments may suggest otherwise, Ryabkov insisted there is an ongoing positive trend as he said: "No, I do not agree that the positive trend in relations between Moscow and Washington is fading.
"I think that the current US administration acts in a zigzag manner on this and many other issues. I wouldn't say they are firmly following a set course once and for all. We don't dramatize over this."
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With Ryabkov having shared his thoughts, Trump is set to make more remarks about Russia on Monday (July 14) as he told NBC News he's planning a 'major statement'.
The president didn't offer specific details on what the statement would relate to, but said: “I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday. We’re sending weapons to Nato, and Nato is paying for those weapons, 100 percent.”
Topics: Donald Trump, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Politics
Emily Brown