U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday (July 4) that he has discussed sanctions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is worried about them and understands they might be forthcoming, Reuters reports.
"We talked about sanctions a lot. Yes. (Reporter asking off camera: What does he (Russia's President Vladimir Putin) say about it?) I would say he's not thrilled about it. But, you know, he's been able to handle sanctions. But these are pretty biting sanctions. You know, we talk about sanctions a lot and he understands that it may be coming. And, you know, he's a professional.
Yeah, I'd like to see it happen. I don't want to see 5000, 6000, 7000 soldiers killed every week. And you have other people. But for the most part, so far it's been mostly soldiers and they're Ukrainian soldiers and they're also Russian soldiers. But it's 5000 souls, and that being killed every single week, except it's really higher than that now," Trump said.
Trump, who spoke on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had discussed the possibility of sending Patriot air defense missiles to Kyiv.
