Putin shows he won’t go easy on Trump politically — expert

Oleh Rybachuk, head of the NGO Center for Joint Actions and former Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"From Trump's point of view, Putin, through large-scale attacks on Ukraine, has demonstrated not only that he is not afraid of him. Putin has shown Trump that he will not play political games with him. We should recall the dynamics after the two-hour conversation between Trump and Putin, when Trump spoke of an extremely positive conversation and called Putin a gentleman. They exchanged compliments, everything was wonderful, etc. But before that, did Trump not see the missile strikes on Ukraine? Of course he did. So the question arises—what has changed in the past week?" Rybachuk explained.

The politician emphasized that any public calls for an immediate ceasefire have no effect on Putin.  

"I do not have the feeling that Trump is acting consistently. I have witnessed many of his flip-flops. However, I know for sure that any appeals to Putin do not work. All these 'Vladimir STOP!' appeals do not work. These appeals to Putin have zero effect. Therefore, today the question of Trump's political will remains open. Will he be able to take any real steps against Russia or not?" he added.

• Donald Trump, reacting to the latest Russian strikes on Ukraine, sharply criticized Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and expressed dissatisfaction with the rhetoric of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Putin's camp called Trump's words "emotional baggage."  
• French President Emmanuel Macron is convinced that American leader Donald Trump realizes that dictator Vladimir Putin lied to him when he spoke about peace in Ukraine.