Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘let me down’: Trump

September 19, 2025

Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “let me down” for not stopping the war with Ukraine.

“He has let me down. I mean, he’s killing many people and he’s losing more people than he’s, you know, than he’s killing. I mean, frankly, Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers,” Trump said at a news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Trump confessed that even though he thought that the Russia-Ukraine war would be the “easiest” one to solve, it was not the case.

Further, he insisted that the war in Ukraine would not have begun if he had remained in the White House. “This was a thing that would have never happened had I been president. If I were president, it would have never happened. And it didn’t happen for four years,” Trump asserted. “Most people agree it didn’t happen, nor was it close to happening.”

Despite a summit between Putin and Trump at Alaska, during which the US leader urged the Russian president to hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a peace deal did not materialise.

In February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, aiming to “demilitarize and denazify” the country, according to President Vladimir Putin.

The Russia-Ukraine war is an ongoing conflict that started in 2014 and escalated into a full-scale war in February 2022. The conflict began with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, followed by support for separatist movements in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Ukraine has launched counteroffensives, notably in the south and northeast, reclaiming territory. Russia has captured key areas like Mariupol and made gains in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In August 2024, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, capturing territory and prisoners.

The UN reports over 10,000 civilian deaths, with many more wounded. The conflict has displaced millions, creating a significant humanitarian challenge.

In his opening remarks, Starmer praised the historic bonds between the UK and US, adding that both countries are “ready to define this century together.”

Earlier today, the leaders announced a new “tech prosperity deal” between the two countries, CNN reported.

Starmer stressed that Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine show that President Vladimir Putin is not interested in peace.

The UK PM said he and Trump talked about how to “increase the pressure on Putin to get him to agree a peace deal that will last.”