Trump blasts Putin, questioning if Russian leader wants peace or is just ‘tapping me along’

President Donald Trump has expressed doubts that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end its war with Ukraine which has raged for more than three years.

Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to express his growing frustration with the Russian leader in a week that saw Russia launch a deadly missile attack on Kyiv. The Thursday attack on Ukraine killed 12 people and injured at least 90, including children.

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote, shortly after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on Saturday for Pope Francis’ funeral. 

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“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”

The post comes as a peace deal appears nowhere in sight despite ongoing negotiations and Trump repeatedly claiming on the campaign trail that he would end the war within 24 hours of taking office. 

Trump said Saturday that the killings in the war are “worse than anything since World War II.”

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On Thursday, Trump pleaded with Putin to end the war.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5,000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the peace deal DONE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The attack on Kyiv came a day before Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s fourth visit to Moscow. 

Trump had expressed hope over Easter that Russia and Ukraine could reach a deal this week, saying that once an agreement was reached, they would be able to “start to do big business with the United States of America…”

Trump met face-to-face with Zelenskyy in Rome on Saturday, the first time since their infamous Oval Office spat in February. 

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Neither Ukrainian nor White House officials gave many details on the meeting; however, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said it was “a very productive discussion.”

Trump also took aim at former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama in his Saturday post, blaming Biden for the war taking place under his watch and Obama for Russia taking Crimea.  

“This is Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine,” Trump raged. “It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time. I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is.”

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.