Trump disappointed by Russia’s ‘lack of flexibility’

Ukraine suffers deadly drone strikes as Macron declares a post-ceasefire European peacekeeping force is ‘ready to go’

- BRYONY GOOCH

Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian president Vladimir Putin as Moscow intensifies its attacks on Ukraine, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

The secretary of state expressed to Mr Lavrov that the US president had publicly expressed his disappointment that “there’s not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict”, only a day after Ukraine reported a record-breaking aerial strike that saw more than 700 drones and missiles launched by Russia.

It was the second time Mr Rubio had met Mr Lavrov in person, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting in Malaysia for a “frank conversation” where they discussed a possible peace deal with Ukraine.

Mr Rubio’s statement comes as President Trump put his foot down during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday in which he said:

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin,” adding: “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

While Mr Trump’s support for Ukraine has been inconsistent since he entered the Oval Office, he recently vowed to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv days after the Pentagon decided to stall critical munition supplies to the war-torn country.