Putin Is ‘playing America As A Patsy,’ Grassley Warns Trump

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) warned President Donald Trump that Russia was “playing America" on Friday, asking him to punish the country for attacking Ukraine amid ceasefire negotiations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earned rare criticism from Trump after launching a deadly attack in Kyiv on Thursday, as Trump amps up pressure on Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to U.S.-led proposals for a peace deal. Grassley, an ardent supporter of Ukraine, has been one of the loudest voices on the Republican side coming down on Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“IVE SEEN ENOUGH KILLING OF INNOCENT UKRAINIAN women + children,” Grassley posted on X on Friday.

Grassley pushed Trump to institute sanctions on Russia — which Trump has previously threatened to do if they didn’t come to the negotiating table on the war — and added that Russia is “playing America as a patsy.”

Trump has said he is pushing to get a deal out the door before marking his 100 days in office next week. He said that work on the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine “is going smoothly” in a post on Truth Social Friday, after urging Zelenskyy to also “immediately” sign the minerals deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s “rare earths.”

Outside of demanding Putin immediately stop attacking Kyiv, the majority of Trump’s ire this week focused on Zelenskyy. Since entering office, Trump has repeatedly blamed Zelenskyy for not trying harder to end the war that Russia started, calling Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” and berating him in the Oval Office with Vice President JD Vance.

Grassley has split with Trump before, pushing back on Trump’s attacks on Zelenskyy in February, instead calling out Putin as a dictator and blaming him for continuing the war.

Earlier this week, Trump blasted Zelenskyy on his social media platform over Ukraine’s pushback against the U.S.-led peace proposal, which Trump and members of his administration signaled would likely include territorial concessions. Trump told TIME Magazine this week that Russian-occupied Crimea “will stay with Russia” and that “Zelenskyy “understands that.”

Zelenskyy has said that he will defend the Ukrainian constitution, and that recognizing an annexed Crimea would be a non-starter.

“I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelenskyy,” Trump told reporters in an Oval Office press conference on Wednesday. “So far, it’s been harder.”

Trump told reporters Thursday that his administration is “putting a lot of pressure” on Russia. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff also had another meeting with Putin on Friday.