US President Donald Trump has warned that his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'running out and running out fast', following a week of heavy Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory that also affected Poland. In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump said, 'But it does take two to tango,' referring to Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky. He added, 'It’s amazing when Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelensky wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelensky wants to, and Putin is a question mark… But we’re going to have to come down very, very strong.'
This is not the first time Trump has expressed frustration with Putin. Earlier this month, he said he was 'disappointed' with Putin’s actions and announced he would take 'certain measures'. On September 2, Trump stated he was ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia. Finnish President Alexander Stubb earlier this year suggested Trump was losing patience over Putin's stalling tactics regarding a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Putin failed to attend scheduled peace talks in Istanbul in May, sending a delegation of diplomats instead. Ukrainian President Zelensky did attend. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said Trump was 'losing patience' after Putin appeared to ignore threats of 'severe' tariffs unless a ceasefire was agreed. Trump gave Putin a 50-day deadline to agree a peace deal, later cut to 10-12 days, after talks failed 'on too many occasions'.
On Wednesday, some two dozen Russian drones infiltrated deep into Polish territory for the first time since the war began, before being shot down. Wreckage was recovered mainly in Lublin Voivodeship near the Belarusian border. One drone destroyed a roof and damaged a car. In response, Sweden, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, Czechia, France and Germany summoned their Russian ambassadors for explanations. A Polish army lieutenant warned that Poland's use of F-35 aircraft to shoot down drones shows it is not ready for mass drone warfare, suggesting Russia is provoking Poland and testing its response capabilities.
