U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "tough cookie."
According to Newsmax, a cable news channel, on the 1st local time, President Trump responded to a question about whether his opinion of President Putin had changed while negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine. President Trump has recently escalated his stance against Russia regarding the end of the Ukraine war.
President Trump said, "He is definitely a tough cookie, but he hasn't changed that much. However, it's surprising. We've had many good conversations that could have ended this issue, then suddenly the bombs started to fall."
On that day, regarding the demand for a ceasefire from Russia within "10 to 12 days," when asked what would happen if an agreement was not reached by the deadline of the 9th, President Trump said, "We will impose sanctions," adding, "He (President Putin) is quite skilled at sanctions. He knows how to avoid them."
When asked whether President Putin knows how serious he is, President Trump said, "I just want people to stop dying." He added, "This war is Biden's war. It's not my war. This war would never have happened."
He added, "I have talked a lot with Putin and I think we had good conversations. But when I came back, I saw bombs exploding in Kyiv and various cities, and people dying. I had good conversations with him, and I thought it would be resolved well three times, but I began to think that maybe he wants to take everything."
Earlier, President Trump had also used the same expression meaning "tough cookie" for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in January, stating, "I liked him very much and got along very well."