“All out of carrots”: Trump runs out of patience with Putin’s negotiating tactics

US President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Vladimir Putin and now views him as a bigger obstacle to peace in Ukraine than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The Telegraph reported.

Sources close to the president's inner circle told the publication that Trump's recent decisions to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker and support new sanctions legislation signal to Putin that time is running out to end the war.

"He works around a carrot and stick approach. And I think he's all out of carrots," one source said.

Another source described Trump as finding the Russians' "two steps forward, one step back" strategy in negotiations increasingly "tiresome."

The shift in tone marks a departure from Trump's earlier rhetoric. He had previously spoken warmly about Putin and blamed Ukraine for the war. However, according to several current and former Washington officials, the Trump administration's thinking is now aligning more closely with the European view that Putin is playing for time.

On 7 January, American special forces boarded a Russian-registered tanker flagged for sanctions violations, risking direct confrontation with Moscow. Hours later, the White House confirmed Trump had "greenlit" a sanctions bill during a meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the most prominent Russia hawks in the Senate.

The legislation would grant the president extraordinary powers to isolate Russia, including the ability to impose 500 percent tariffs on goods imported from countries that purchase Russian oil, petroleum products, or uranium.

One former official explained the administration's position: "What is tiresome to the administration is ... that the Russians use a two steps forward, one step back strategy ... they seem like they're ready, then when things come up that we thought they would be amenable to they either ramp things up, or they stop talking for a while."

Ukraine, by contrast, has been more willing to compromise, the source said.

Russia launched ballistic missiles and drones on Kyiv just a day before Zelenskyy met Trump at Mar-a-Lago at the end of last year. A British official noted that this pattern has shifted the Trump administration's mindset closer to the European view of the conflict.

"Putin's sustained brutality, nefarious behaviour and game playing do not go unnoticed by the administration," the official said.

Trump signaled his personal irritation with Putin during a recent press conference at Mar-a-Lago. "I'm not thrilled with Putin, he's killing too many people," he said.

A day later, Trump contradicted Russian claims that Ukraine had targeted one of Putin's residences with a drone. "I don't believe that strike happened. We don't believe that happened, now that we've been able to check," he told reporters on Air Force One.

British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy met Vice President JD Vance at the White House on 9 January, with talks expected to focus on US support for security guarantees to protect Ukraine if Russia attacks again.

Russia's foreign ministry responded by denouncing the plans, warning that any Western troop deployments in Ukraine would be viewed as "legitimate targets." A spokeswoman stated: "The Russian Foreign Ministry warns that the deployment of military units, military facilities, warehouses, and other infrastructure of Western countries on the territory of Ukraine will be classified as foreign intervention."

Russia then fired an Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile at Lviv, a city hundreds of miles from the front line but just 40 miles from the border with NATO and EU member Poland.

A former White House official suggested Trump was "emboldened" by the recent special forces raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling it "the sort of operation that only the United States – or maybe Israel – could have carried out."

However, a member of Trump's national security council from his first term cautioned that the latest developments are part of the usual ebb and flow of a policy still focused on dialogue with the Kremlin.

"I think this is an operational versus strategic question. He may push back harder on certain operational things but his strategic desire to end the Ukraine war quickly seems unchanged," the source said.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump's goal remains ending the war: "President Trump is focused on getting this war settled and ending the senseless killing that was brought on by Joe Biden's incompetence."