Donald Trump finds fault with both Putin and Zelenskyy

President Donald Trump lashed out at both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday expressing frustration with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders as he struggles to forge a truce to end the war Although Trump insisted to reporters that were making a lot of progress he acknowledged that theres tremendous hatred between the two men a fresh indication that negotiations may not produce the swift conclusion that he promised during the campaignTrump began voicing his criticisms in an early morning interview with NBC News while he was at MaraLago his private club in Florida He said he was angry pissed off that Putin questioned Zelenskyys credibility The Russian leader recently said that Zelenskyy lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal and suggested that Ukraine needed external governanceTrump said he would consider adding new sanctions on Russia which already faces steep financial penalties and using tariffs to undermine its oil exports The Republican president rarely criticizes Putin and hes previously attacked Zelenskyys credibility himself For example Trump has suggested that Ukraine caused the war that began with a Russian invasion three years ago and hes insisted that Zelenskyy should hold elections even though its illegal under Ukraines constitution to do so during martial lawOn his flight back to Washington on Sunday evening Trump reiterated his annoyance toward Putin but somewhat softened his tone I dont think hes going to go back on his word he said Ive known him for a long time Weve always gotten along well Asked when he wanted Russia to agree to a ceasefire Trump said there was a psychological deadline If I think theyre tapping us along I will not be happy about it he saidTrump soon pivoted to criticize Zelenskyy Hes trying to back out of the rare earth deal Trump said referring to negotiations over US access to critical minerals in Ukraine And if he does that hes got some problems Big big problems Trump and Zelenskyy were supposed to sign the deal when the Ukrainian leader visited the White House However their meeting ended with acrimony that played out in front of television cameras in the Oval OfficeTrump suggested on Sunday that Zelenskyy wanted to renegotiate the deal to get better security guarantees He wants to be a member of NATO he said Well he was never going to be a member of NATO He understands that The US has been pushing for a comprehensive ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine to peacefully end their 3yearold warRussia has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30day halt in the fighting and the feasibility of a partial ceasefire on the Black Sea was thrown into doubt after Kremlin negotiators imposed farreaching conditions Trumps comments on Putin come after weeks of intense pressure on Ukraine to agree to a ceasefireRussian drones hit Ukraines 2nd largest city KharkivMeanwhile Russian drones hit a military hospital shopping center and apartment blocks in Ukraines secondlargest city of Kharkiv killing two people and wounding dozens Ukraines General Staff denounced the deliberate targeted shelling of the military hospital late Saturday Among the casualties were service members who were undergoing treatment it said Regional Gov Oleh Syniehubov said those killed were a 67yearold man and a 70yearold womanAccording to Ukrainian government and military analysts Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize pressure on Kyiv and strengthen the Kremlins negotiating position in ceasefire talks Ukraines air force reported that Russia fired 111 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Sunday It said 65 of them were intercepted and another 35 were lost likely having been electronically jammedZelenskyy said Sunday that over the past week most regions of Ukraine came under Russian attack Writing on X he said 1310 Russian guided aerial bombs over 1000 attack drones mostly Shaheds and nine missiles of various types including ballistic ones had been launched against Ukraine Zelenskyy also repeated his assertion that Russia is dragging out the war echoing comments he made Thursday in Paris that Russia is prolonging ceasefire talks just to buy time and then try to grab more landRussias Ministry of Defence meanwhile said its air defense systems shot down six Ukrainian drones It also claimed Sunday that its troops had taken control of a village in Ukraines partly occupied Donetsk region The Russian claim could not be independently verified and Ukraine did not commentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever