Trump’s relationship with Putin ‘at breaking point’ after Russia unleashes Kyiv blitz

As his cherished bromance with Putin turns sour and tensions rise over Ukraine, the former cold war rivals now risk sliding back into nuclear brinkmanship and open threats of war.

On Friday, Trump announced that, in response to threats from the Kremlin, he had deployed two nuclear-armed submarines to “appropriate regions” around Russia.

It was during his visit to his Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire a week ago that the president’s patience appeared to snap. Slashing a 50-day deadline he set last month for Russia to agree to a peace deal, Trump issued a new ultimatum, threatening punitive sanctions against Moscow from this week in an attempt to force Putin to the negotiating table.

“I’m not so interested in talking any more,” Trump said during a press conference with Keir Starmer. “He talks, we have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversations, and then people die the following night.”

On Tuesday morning, hours after his comments, a hospital in Ukraine’s eastern region was hit by a ballistic missile that killed three people. Sixteen others died and more than 50 were injured in the bombing of a prison in the Zaporizhzhia region – a civilian facility. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, called its targeting deliberate.

Then, in the early hours of Thursday, Kyiv suffered its deadliest attack in a year. A coordinated barrage of more than 300 drones and eight ballistic missiles caused a nine-storey block of flats to collapse, killing 31, including five children.

Trump’s ultimatum caps a remarkable turnaround from the early weeks of his administration, when he appeared to side with Russia, denouncing Zelensky as a “dictator” and accusing him of starting the war.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump frequently boasted about his closeness to Putin. Back in office, he reportedly told advisers to prepare for a summit with the Russian leader to unveil a peace accord – the sort of made-for-TV spectacle he adores.

That relationship is now at breaking point. Putin has repeatedly dodged committing to a ceasefire, unleashing waves of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

When peace talks stalled in April, the US president acknowledged that Putin might be “just tapping me along”. As the Russian offensive expanded, Trump called the Russian leader “crazy” and warned that his desire to conquer all of Ukraine would “lead to the downfall of Russia”.

“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump said to reporters in May.

The tipping point, according to sources around the Trump administration, was his call with Putin early last month – their sixth since the president took office.

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump admitted afterwards. He was, he said, “very disappointed” in the Russian leader.

“President Trump is genuinely pissed off at Putin. He has put in a lot of time and effort, he’s been accommodating to some of Putin’s requests for concessions and he’s been kind of spit on,” said one analyst close to the administration.

A creature of television himself, the US president has been disturbed by the images of civilian casualties in Ukraine and frustrated that those deaths could have been avoided if a deal had been reached. “It gets to him,” the analyst said. “He genuinely cares about human suffering.”

The president’s change of heart has been greeted with cautious optimism by Ukraine’s supporters in Washington. Republican and Democratic allies of Kyiv watched with dismay as Trump made one concession after another to Putin in the early weeks of his administration, refusing to acknowledge Russia’s responsibility for the war, while heaping pressure on Zelensky and humiliating him in a disastrous Oval Office confrontation in February.

“Putin has embarrassed him. Putin’s made him look weak, and I think that’s what’s dominant on his mind. He wants to push back,” said Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House armed services committee. “He really did imagine that he would get elected president and find a way to stop the war. And it’s very clear that Putin isn’t letting that happen.”

In a further signal that the White House’s stance has shifted, retired army general Keith Kellogg has been restored as Trump’s chief adviser on Ukraine, replacing peace envoy Steve Witkoff, who is occupied with Gaza. A Russia hawk, Kellogg was sidelined in March at the request of Moscow after the Kremlin complained that he was too close to Kyiv.

While Trump has soured on Putin, European allies have worked patiently to rebuild his support for Ukraine after Zelensky’s Oval Office debacle. A trade deal with the EU and Nato members’ commitment to raise defence spending has assuaged Trump’s claims that US allies were “ripping us off”.

That paved the way for last month’s deal for Nato countries to buy US weapons to arm Ukraine. With Trump frustrated by Putin’s evasion, Europe has restored the president’s image of himself as the ultimate dealmaker.

“European leaders have done a good job of adding their voices, to show Trump that Putin is not going to move and you’re the only one who can get him to,” said Shelby Magid of the Atlantic Council thinktank.

“He has long said that Europe needs to pull its weight more, and he does believe that Ukraine is a European problem. So with European leaders saying: ‘We’re increasing our defence spending’ and then this offer for Europeans to buy American weapons, I think it all fits together in an appealing way for Trump.”

How far Trump is willing to go to put renewed pressure on Putin remains uncertain. Government advisers say a “suite of options” has been prepared for the US president to consider if, as expected, Russia breaches this week’s deadline.

A bipartisan bill in Congress that would impose massive sanctions designed to devastate the Russian economy has been ready for weeks, awaiting a nod from the White House. South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump and co-sponsor of the bill, has said that the new sanctions would do “bone-crushing” damage to Russia.

“It’s very obvious that President Trump is prepared to use significant economic weapons against Russia if it does not take the peace negotiations seriously,” said Peter Doran of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“He’s tired of the games and he wants to bring this war in Ukraine to an end. He wants to see action from Putin. Moscow intended to call his bluff. When the chips are down, Donald Trump does not bluff.”

Some in Washington fear the economic blowback from Trump’s vow to impose secondary sanctions on Russian allies, however. The Senate bill includes a tariff of 500% on countries that buy Russian oil, with the biggest customers being India, China and Brazil.

Trump imposed a 25% tariff on India last week but experts have warned that targeting these three economic giants would cause energy prices to spike and tank the global economy. Trump only recently rowed back from starting a trade war with China that sent international markets into freefall.

The Senate bill would also embargo Russian exports of gas and uranium. Russian politicians, business leaders and military chiefs would be hit with new sanctions, starting with Putin himself. The bill would also bar any Russian stocks from listing on US exchanges, any purchase of Russian sovereign debt and cut off Russian banks from all financial messaging systems.

“Trump should also urge Congress to approve lend-lease authority for Ukraine, whereby Ukraine can borrow money directly from the US for the sole purpose of buying American arms and ammunition,” said Kurt Volker, the former US Ambassador to Nato. “This would signal to Putin that there will be no gaps in military support for Ukraine in the future, that Putin has already hit his high-water mark in his efforts to take over Ukraine and that it will only get worse for Russia from here.”

With Russian forces making gains on the battlefield, however, few in Washington believe sanctions alone will change Putin’s calculation that he can stall his way to victory, convincing Trump to walk away. Even if the president has been talked out of rushing into a deal at any price, members of Congress have urged Trump to stay the course.

“I think it’s genuine,” said Smith of Trump’s U-turn on Russia. “The question is: is it lasting?

“If the president actually follows through… and Putin continues to absorb unimaginable casualties for very little gain, then at some point, if Trump holds fast, I think Putin will have to recalculate.”

A White House official confirmed that Trump would hold to his Friday deadline. “As President Trump stated, seven days from today he will be putting on tariffs and sanctions on Russia if it insists on continuing the war,” the official said. “He is very disappointed in President Putin because Putin clearly wants to keep the war going.”

Additional reporting by Nina Kuryata and Liz Cookman

Photograph by Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty