NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin was running out, but stopped short of threatening new sanctions over the Ukraine war.
Asked if his patience with Putin had run out, Trump said: “Yeah. It’s sort of running out and running out fast.”
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he had long had a good relationship with Putin, but expressed frustration at his failure to end the war.
“We’re going to have to come down very, very strong,” he said. Trump said sanctions on banks and oil were an option, along with tariffs, but European countries also needed to participate.
“But I’ve already done it. I’ve done a lot,” Trump said, noting that India – one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil – was facing a 50% tariff on its exports to the U.S.
“That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s a big deal and it causes a rift with India,” he told the “Fox & Friends” program. “And remember this, this is a Europe problem, much more than our problem.”
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Katharine Jackson and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
