President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “very close to a deal.”

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the pope’s funeral. It was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in February. That confrontation led the White House to briefly pause U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

Trump also announced he was “strongly considering” imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia to try to prod Putin to negotiate in earnest.

Trump has not yet followed through on the threat — something even some of his staunch Republican allies are now pressuring him to do. See Nation & World Page 3

— The Associated Press