President Donald Trump has threatened to take action against President Vladimir Putin as he speaks out for the first time following Pope Francis' funeral.
Taking to Truth Social, the 78-year-old Republican wrote at the bottom of a lengthy post where he took aim at The New York Times over its coverage of the peace deal the Trump administration is attempting to broker.
It read: "With all of that being said, there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.
"It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!"
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The attack in question he is referring to is the hours-long barrage of missiles and drones on a residential area in Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday morning (April 24), local time.
At least nine people and injured more than 90, making it the deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since last July, just as peace efforts are coming to a head.
Speaking about it on the day of the attacks, Trump posted on Truth Social: "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!"
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Meanwhile, earlier today Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump were pictured in a meeting before Pope Francis' funeral, with the photograph depicting the two leaders sat opposite one another on chairs within St Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican City.
It was the first time Trump and Zelenskyy had met face-to-face since their explosive discussion they had in front of national television in the Oval Office back in February.
The 78-year-old Republican president had criticized his Ukrainian counterpart numerous times since taking post, but from all accounts they have buried the hatchet.
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Taking to Twitter to reflect on their meeting, Zelenskyy wrote: "Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people.
"Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you @POTUS."
Whether Putin is on board with the peace deal remains to be seen.
Topics: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Russia, Ukraine, Truth Social
Joe Yates