Trump says Putin has 'really let me down' over Ukraine peace

Donald Trump accused accused Vladimir Putin of 'letting me down' in his quest for peace in Ukraine as he joined Keir Starmer in heaping pressure on Russia's brutal invasion.

The president used a press conference with the Prime Minister during his state visit to the UK to lash out at the Kremlin tyrant, days after his weapons violated Nato airspace in Poland. 

A peace deal appears to be no closer despite months of Washington-led talks, and Trump's ultimatums and deadlines for the Russian leader to engage with proposals have passed without obvious consequences.

Asked during his state visit to the UK on Thursday whether negotiations had run out of road, the US president said people were 'being killed and I feel I have an obligation to get it settled for that reason.'

Speaking at Chequers about that conflict and the fighting in Gaza Trump said he was 'working very hard', adding that the situation was 'complex, but it's going to get done'.

He said he thought the Ukraine war would be the 'easiest' to resolve but Vladimir Putin had 'really let me down', after last week's incident in which multiple Russian drones were shot down by Nato forces.

'He's really let me down … I thought it might be among the easiest of the group,' the president said.

'He has let me down. I mean, he's killing many people and he's losing more people than he's, you know, than he's killing. I mean, frankly, Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers. But, yeah, he's let me down.' 

Sir Keir told reporters the two nations were 'working together to end the killing in Ukraine'.

'In recent days, Putin has shown his true face, mounting the biggest attack since the invasion began, with yet more bloodshed, yet more innocents killed, and unprecedented violations of Nato airspace,' he said.

'These are not the actions of someone who wants peace.

'So, we've discussed today how we can build our defences further to support Ukraine and decisively increase the pressure on Putin to get him to agree a peace deal that will last.'

Typhoon jets from RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, will join Nato's 'Eastern Sentry' mission, flying over Poland alongside aircraft from Denmark, France and Germany.

They will be supported by a Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft from RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire.

Trump suggested that Russian president Vladimir Putin began the war because 'he didn't respect the leadership of the United States' at the time.

He added: 'If I were president, it would have never happened, and it didn't happen for four years. People, most people, agree. It didn't happen, nor was it close to happening.

'I spoke to president Putin about Ukraine, it was the apple of his eye. I've said that many times, it was, but he would have never done what he did, except that he didn't respect the leadership of the United States.'

Mr Trump later added: 'Millions of people have died in that war, millions of souls, and they're not American, they're soldiers, mostly soldiers, as you know, the soldiers are being killed at levels nobody's seen since the Second World War.

'But they're being killed and I feel I have an obligation to get it settled for that reason.'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Moscow launched thousands of drones and powerful glide bombs, as well as hundreds of missiles at targets inside the country just over the past fortnight.

In response, Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones that have hit deep into Russia, damaging installations vital for Russia's war effort.

Recent strikes have included oil refineries, depots and terminals.

Before arriving in Britain, Mr Trump told reporters in Washington that 'Zelensky is going to have to make a deal' to end the war, although he did not elaborate on what he meant.