“He’s a tough cookie”: Trump admits Putin talks had no effect

Newsmax reported the information.

When a journalist asked whether Donald Trump's opinion of Vladimir Putin had changed in recent months, the former U.S. president said it had not, but he was surprised by Putin’s behavior.

"He's obviously a tough cookie, so it hasn't changed in that way. But I'm surprised. We had numerous good conversations where we could have ended this thing, and all of a sudden bombs start flying," Trump said.

Trump added that they had agreed three times to stop the fighting, yet Russia continued to kill people in Ukraine.

• On July 28, Donald Trump said he was disappointed with Vladimir Putin and planned to shorten the 50-day deadline he had earlier set for reaching peace with Ukraine. That same day, Dmitry Medvedev responded by threatening war with the United States if Trump reduced the timeline to 10–12 days.
• On July 29, Trump announced he had officially shortened the deadline for a ceasefire agreement with Russia to 10 days.
• On July 31, Trump responded to Medvedev’s threats, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed Medvedev as an “irrelevant player” in Russian politics.
• On Friday, August 1, President Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines to specific regions in response to Medvedev’s threats.
• On August 2, Trump confirmed that the deployment was meant to ensure the safety of Americans. He also said he had not ruled out meeting with Putin within the next 10 days — before the deadline for ending the war in Ukraine expires.