Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s characterization of Russia as a “paper tiger,” noting that the country is traditionally seen as a bear, not a tiger, and there are no “paper bears”.
Peskov’s remarks were reported by TASS, a state-run news agency in Moscow. He also said Putin appreciates Trump’s ongoing willingness to find a solution to the Ukraine conflict, and that a settlement will coincide with a revival of U.S.-Russia relations.
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin as he seeks to broker an end to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has intensified the war as Trump tries to end it.
He is pushing European allies to end their imports of all Russian oil and gas, and said the U.S. would follow their lead on tougher sanctions against China, Moscow’s key strategic partner.
Peskov said Trump is a businessman and is trying to make the world buy more expensive American oil and gas, TASS reported.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he thinks Ukraine, with the help of European NATO allies, can win back all of the territory seized by Russia.
“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger’,” Trump wrote.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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