trump putin zelensky
(L-R) Donald Trump, Vladimir Zelensky, Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump on Friday told reporters he found it easier to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin than with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

And said he believed the Russian leader - who launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine more than three years ago - when Putin said he sought peace.

"You know, I believe, I believe him. I think we're doing very well with Russia. but right now, they're bombing the hell out of Ukraine and Ukraine. I'm... I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine. And and they don't have the cards."

Earlier on Friday the U.S. President had raised the prospect of imposing large-scale sanctions on Russia.

It comes after a Reuters report earlier this week that the White House was preparing to give Russia possible sanctions relief as part of the push to end the war and improve diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow.

Three years of solid support for Ukrainian was erased exactly one week ago in a shouting match in the Oval Office between Trump and Zelenskiy.

Trump afterward canceled U.S. support for Ukraine, and ended the sharing of crucial intelligence, measures that stunned allies across Europe and were met with approval in Moscow.

Officials in Washington and Kyiv have tried to patch things up since, and a U.S. delegation is set to meet with counterparts from Ukraine for talks in Saudi Arabia next week.

Trump has continued to suggest Ukrainian leaders need to prove they are serious about ending the war they did not start.
"They don't have the goods. as you know, we're meeting in Saudi Arabia on sometime next week or early, and we're talking I find, that in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising because they have all the cards, I mean, and they're bombing the hell out of them right now."
The loss of American support comes at a critical time for the Ukrainian military.

Russian forces have almost surrounded thousands of Ukrainian troops who stormed into Russia's Kursk region last summer.

Open source maps show a Russian counteroffensive has nearly cut the Ukrainian force in Kursk in two and separated the main group from its principal supply lines.