Trump's fed up, but will Putin care?

DONALD Trump has finally run out of patience with Vladimir Putin, or at least, that’s the message he’s trying to send.

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

In a rare and uncharacteristically sharp shift, the US president has publicly turned on his old Kremlin pal, accusing Russia of blowing up nursing homes in Kyiv and failing to seal peace deals that were supposedly “done four times”.

“I'm disappointed in him. I’m not done with him, but I’m disappointed,” Trump said this week in a moment that felt as close to genuine exasperation as we've seen from him in office.

It's a remarkable U-turn from a man who, until now, has bent over backwards to avoid pinning any blame on the Russian president for the war in Ukraine.

He's deflected, blamed Ukraine, blamed Joe Biden, blamed everyone except the man who launched the invasion. But now, Trump appears to have had enough.