'Putin just wants to keep killing people': Trump hints at imposing sanctions on Russia

The US President also gave hints that he may finally be ready to toughen sanctions against Russia.

US President Donald Trump has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin just wanted to "keep killing people", as he expressed unhappiness after his phone call with the Russian leader regarding the war in Ukraine.

AFP quoted Trump as saying aboard Air Force One on Friday that that he was "very unhappy" about his telephone call with Putin. "It's a very tough situation. I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it's no good," Trump said.

The US President also gave hints that he may finally be ready to toughen sanctions against Russia.

Trump has held the idea of imposing sanctions over Russia for the past six months, as he tried to persuade Putin to end the war.

"We talk about sanctions a lot," Trump said. "He understands that it may be coming."

Trump calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Trump informed that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile had a "very strategic call" on Friday, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries.

Zelensky said earlier that the two leaders had agreed to work to "strengthen" Ukraine's air defenses, following Russia's largest drone and missile barrage of the invasion so far.

Trump said he had also discussed sending Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine in a separate call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday, although he had not yet agreed to do so.

Merz "feels they have to be protected," Trump said.

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(With agency inputs)