Trump’s U-Turn seems partly the result of European leaders, Rutte especially, who worked hard to develop common ground with the U.S. President. It also seems to be the result of growing irritation with Putin. Trump said Monday that Putin talks “so beautifully” when it comes to a ceasefire but “then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”

President Donald Trump’s new weapons deal and his increasing criticism of Vladimir Putin have sparked fear among some Russians that Putin could overplay his hand.

“Putin will not negotiate as a loser,” one of his longtime associates tells TIME by phone from Moscow. “He knows that winners don’t get punished, and if he wins, all of this” — the sanctions, the tariffs — “will go away.”

Donald Trump has said that he is disappointed but not done with Vladimir Putin, in an exclusive phone call with the BBC. When the US president was pressed on whether he trusts the Russian leader by Chief North America Correspondent Gary O'Donoghue,

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was "not done" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a BBC interview published on Tuesday, hours after he said he was disappointed in Putin and threatened Moscow with sanctions.