Meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, Trump said he had given Russian President Vladimir Putin the same analogy during a phone call the previous day.
“Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight a bit before you pull them apart,” he told reporters, likening himself to a hockey referee who allows players to scrap before intervening.
Trump said Putin had vowed a forceful response to last weekend’s Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian air bases, telling him: “We have no choice but to attack.” The U.S. leader added: “It’s not gonna be pretty. I told him, ‘Don’t do it.’”
Pressed three times on whether he would back a bipartisan sanctions bill championed by Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump was non-committal, saying he would consult Merz and might sanction both Moscow and Kyiv.
“It takes two to tango,” he said. “If Russia is out of line, you will be amazed how tough I’ll be.”
Merz urged tougher pressure on the Kremlin, telling Trump that “we have a duty to stop it now” and that Western unity was essential.
Ukrainian officials privately say any U.S. retreat from peacemaking would favor Moscow, while analysts warned that talk of penalizing both sides could sow confusion among allies.
(jh)
Source: Polskie Radio 24, Axios, CNN