President Donald Trump on Friday said he was "sort of" running out of patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin "fast" after the Kremlin said negotiations with Ukraine were "on pause."
In an interview on "Fox and Friends," Trump said when he entered office he thought ending the then-three-year-long Russia-Ukraine war was going to be the "easiest" international conflict to take on.
"But it does take two to tango," Trump said after host Brian Kilmeade pointed out that Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy has offered to meet with Putin a number of times. "It's amazing when Putin wants to do it, Zelenskyy didn't. When Zelenskyy wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelenskyy wants to and Putin is the question mark."
RUSSIA FIRES DRONES INTO POLAND DAYS AFTER TRUMP MEETING WITH NATO ALLY
It is unclear what period of time Trump is referring to as Putin, for the first time earlier this month, invited Zelenskyy to meet with him if the Ukrainian president traveled to Moscow – a move that Western and Ukrainian security officials said was not only dangerous, but did not signify Putin was serious about good-faith negotiations.
"We're going to have to come down very, very strong," Trump said in reference to Russia. "Hitting very hard with sanctions, to banks and having to do with oil and tariffs.
"But I've already done it. I've done a lot," he said, pointing to the 50% tariffs he put on India and has threatened to put on China – both of which are Russia’s largest importers of oil.
"That’s not an easy thing to do. That's a big deal. And it causes a rift with India," he added.
While Washington has put tariffs on U.S. imports from India, there are carve-outs on items like pharmaceuticals and electronics – both of which the U.S. heavily imports from New Delhi.
Though despite actions taken by European allies, Trump has not imposed any new sanctions directly on Russia since he re-entered the White House, and is facing mounting criticism for not taking more immediate action against Putin after eight months in office.
NATO WARNS RUSSIA AFTER POLAND SHOOTS DOWN 'HUGE NUMBER' OF DRONES THAT VIOLATED ITS AIRSPACE
Less than one month after Trump met with Putin in what was described as a productive meeting, the Kremlin has "paused" negotiations with Ukraine – which had failed to make any real progress in establishing a ceasefire – and nearly two dozen Russian drones entered Poland earlier this week, prompting a multi-nation NATO response to the threat.
"Communication channels exist, they are established, our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through these channels, but for now, perhaps, we can talk about a pause," Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Friday, according to a Bloomberg report.
NATO allies have been on high alert this week following the drone attack which Trump had suggested could have been a mistake, but which Poland and Ukraine have fervently rejected as any sort of accident.
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"We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X on Friday. "But it wasn't. And we know it."
On Friday, Russia also initiated war games in Belarus, which not only shares a border with Poland, but some of the drones that entered Warsaw’s airspace on Wednesday came from the Moscow ally where Russian troops began amassing earlier this week.
