Trump says Russian economy nearing collapse, but Putin won’t stop Ukraine war

U.S. President Donald Trump again criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin during comments to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the Russian leader is simply unwilling to end the war in Ukraine. “Look, I’m very disappointed because Vladimir and I had a very good relationship, probably still do,” Trump said. “He’s got to really settle this war. And you know they have long lines waiting for gasoline in Russia right now… And all of a sudden his economy is going to collapse.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded Wednesday saying that Putin was open to searching for a way to end the war and that Moscow was grateful to Trump for his efforts. “As for the Russian economy, it has a sufficient and considerable margin of safety to allow the country’s leadership and all of us to implement the plans that we set for ourselves,” Peskov told reporters.

• Trump says he’ll meet with Putin again to try and end Ukraine war