Trump ‘to snub Putin over threat to Ukraine’

DONALD Trump has threatened to cancel a meeting with Vladimir Putin over Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian naval ships and expressed ‘deep concern’ at the flare in tensions.

The two leaders are supposed to be sitting down together on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires this week.

But Mr Trump has said he would be receiving a ‘full report’ on the dramatic sea skirmish before making a decision.

On Sunday, Russian warships opened fire on two Ukrainian gunboats and a tug, before seizing the vessels and 24 crew.

Ukraine has introduced martial law in response, and claims to have evidence that Russia is preparing for a land invasion.

Mr Trump told The Washington Post: ‘Maybe I won’t even have the meeting. I don’t like that aggression.’

In a later conversation with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he expressed his deep concern about the incident in the Kerch Strait and the continued detention of Ukrainian vessels and crew members.

Mr Trump’s comments were his strongest to date in condemnation of Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine, where tensions have risen rapidly this week.

The Ukrainian boats were targeted near a newly-built Russian bridge over the Kerch Strait, Moscow’s only link to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Passing under the bridge is the only way Ukrainian ships can reach its ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. Before the attack, Russia blocked the route with a tanker.

‘I don’t like that aggression’