President Trump's unusual display of impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear to faze the Kremlin. Trump, who more often praises his counterpart, had said in an interview that he was angry at Putin for attacking the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The initial response was to not directly respond to Trump's criticism, the BBC reports. "We continue working with the US side, first of all, on building our relations," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Up until now, Trump has criticized Zelensky, never Putin, when discussing the war in Ukraine that began with Russia's invasion. American and Russian negotiators have been meeting for weeks about ending the fighting. After playing golf with Trump on Saturday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told reporters that the president seemed unhappy with Putin over the war, per the Hill. "There was a combination of impatience and a tad of frustration," Stubb said. On Air Force One on Sunday, Trump's tone toward Putin seemed to have softened, per Politico. "I've known him for a long time," he said. "We've always gotten along well."
But by then, Trump was expressing frustration with Zelensky over the potential agreement for Ukraine to turn over rare minerals to the US in exchange for military assistance, per CNN. "I see he's trying to back out of the rare earth deal," Trump told reporters on the plane. "And if he does that, he's got some problems. Big, big problems." (More US-Russia relations stories.)
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