Is The Trump-Putin Bromance Over?

US President Donald Trump's another bromance seems to be edging toward a breakup. After a very public showdown with his "first buddy", Elon Musk, last month, Trump on Sunday took aim at his "friend", Vladimir Putin. Even before Donald Trump won the US Presidential election in 2024, he said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war within his first 24 hours in office. It's been nearly seven months since Trump returned to the White House, and the conflict is getting worse, with Russia intensifying drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

With no end to conflict in sight, the US leader's patience with his former frenemy Putin appears to be wearing thin, whom Trump called a "very kind" man just last month. 

Angered by his somewhat late epiphany that the Russian President does not have any plan to immediately end his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Trump said he was "disappointed" in Putin.

"Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening," said the disgruntled Trump on Sunday.

Last week, Trump accused the Russian leader of throwing "bulls***" at Washington on Ukraine -- openly frustrated with the seeming impasse. "We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth...He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," Trump told reporters on July 9.

Trump Promises New Weapon To Kyiv

Trump on Sunday also pledged to send Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv and hinted at new sanctions on Russia, voicing displeasure with Putin. "We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need," Trump said Sunday, without specifying how many weapons he would send to Ukraine.

"I haven't agreed on the number yet, but they're going to have some because they do need protection," he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, as he returned from watching the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey.

The US president's announcement of weapons for Ukraine comes amid a diplomatic flurry set for Monday, with the US special envoy starting his latest trip to Ukraine and Trump set to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington.

Moscow's offensive on Ukraine has lasted for more than three years, with attacks intensifying this summer and US-led negotiations so far yielding no results to end the fighting.

The White House has U-turned from an announcement earlier this month that it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv, instead announcing a new deal which would involve NATO paying the United States for some of the weapons it sends to Ukraine.

"We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military, and they're going to pay us 100 per cent for them...It'll be business for us," Trump said.

Trump's U-Turn

The US leader's latest announcement is a stunning reversal from his previous positions, where Trump shifted the US stance from staunch Kyiv supporter to adopting a conciliatory approach with Moscow. Trump went as far as to accept some of Russia's justifications for its invasion launched in 2022.

In April, he blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia and said, "You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles."

However, in the months that followed, Trump appears to have grown tired of yet another one of his buddies and is once again on track to support Kyiv. When asked on Sunday about whether he would announce any sanctions against Russia, the US leader responded: "We're going to see what we will see tomorrow, OK?"