Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump's comments on Sunday - saying he was "very angry" with Vladimir Putin - were a response to the Russian president's comments on Friday, in the far north-western Russian city of Murmansk.

There, Vladimir Putin suggested an interim government in Ukraine under the support of the UN could replace President Zelensky, before elections hand power to a "capable government" to begin peace talks.

The Russian president suggested UN supervision would be in place "in order to hold a democratic election [in Ukraine], in order to bring in a competent government trusted by people".

He said Russia would then hold peace talks with the new government, and "sign legitimate documents which would be recognised worldwide and be reliable and stable".

Citing examples of the UN's involvement in East Timor, New Guinea and parts of former Yugoslavia, Putin said "such practice does exist".

He added: "Technically, it is possible to discuss the possibility of introducing interim governance in Ukraine under the UN auspices with the United States, with European countries, naturally, with our partners and friends."

As a reminder, Trump told NBC on Sunday: "New leadership [in Ukraine] means you're not gonna have a deal for a long time."

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

As we've reported, Donald Trump accused Volodomyr Zelensky on Sunday of trying to "renegotiate" the minerals deal that would give the US access to Ukraine's rare earths.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Washington have begun talks on jointly exploiting Russian rare earth metals, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev, has said.

"Rare earth metals are an important area of cooperation and, of course, we have started discussions on various rare earth metals and projects in Russia," he told pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia.

Dmitriev was involved in key Russian-US talks in Saudi Arabia on 18 February this year.

Also in February, Vladimir Putin made the unusual step of inviting American companies to get involved in mining Russian rare earth minerals.

Before that, he had accused the West, particularly the US, external, of trying to dismember Russia in order to gain access to its natural resources.

Trump demands access to Ukraine’s rare earth metals as a key condition for continued support to Kyiv.

Image source, Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his usual address to the Ukrainian people on Sunday night, and seemingly responded to Donald Trump's comments about Vladimir Putin.

He said Putin "does not care about diplomacy", and called for further pressure on Russia to end the war.

"For several weeks now, there has been a US proposal for an unconditional ceasefire. And almost every day, in response to this proposal, there are Russian drones, bombs, artillery shelling and ballistic strikes," the Ukrainian president said.

"Russia deserves increased pressure - all the tough measures that can break its capacity to wage war and sustain the system that wants nothing but war," Zelensky added.

BBC Monitoring

Russian officials have not yet reacted to Donald Trump's saying he was "very angry" and "pissed off" with Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, Russian TV offered a misleading narrative this morning. Rossiya 1 aired a segment featuring an excerpt from the NBC News interview in which Trump made the remarks - but it omitted his statement about being "angry" with Putin.

Instead, citing the NBC report, Rossiya 1 focused on what it described as Trump's "determination" to run for office a third time.

The channel also cited Trump's later comment that he did not believe his relationship with Putin was at a low point.

NTV also made no mention of Trump's "angry" remarks - however it did say that "a certain deadline has been set for Russia to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine".

The channel also mentioned Trump's threats to impose tariffs ranging from 25 to 50% on countries buying Russian oil.

Online discussions Russian commentators, however, described Trump's frustration as either a sign of either Western manipulation - or Trump's inexperience in global politics.

Many stressed that the Kremlin remains unfazed, viewing his threats as ineffective and temporary.

While Trump was speaking about Putin and Zelensky, the attacks on Ukraine continued.

Overnight, Russia carried out air strikes on Kharkiv - the second night of strikes in Ukraine's second-largest city.

Two people were injured in the latest attack, which also damaged private homes, Ukrainian officials said.

In the early hours of Sunday, Russia carried out six separate strikes on Kharkiv, killing two people and injuring 25.

Image source, EPA

Despite the change of tone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump wasn't exactly positive on Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, either.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said the Ukrainian leader would have "big problems" if he tried to "back out" of the rare earth minerals deal.

On Friday, Zelensky said his government was scrutinising the text of the latest minerals deal it received from the US. Zelensky said he could not accept anything that threatened Ukraine's EU integration.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One: "We made a deal on rare earth and now he's saying, well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.

"He wants to be a member of Nato. Well, he was never going to be a member of Nato. He understands that. So if he's looking to renegotiate the deal, he's got big problems."

• Here is a quick guide to everything you need to know about the US-Ukraine minerals deal

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Let’s take a closer look at what Trump said about Putin in that NBC News interview.

"You could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when... when Putin started getting into Zelensky's credibility, because that's not going in the right location," Trump reportedly told the US news outlet.

He was responding to comments Putin made on Friday, that suggested Zelensky does not have the legitimacy to conduct peace talks, with the Russian leader floating the idea of placing Ukraine under UN control.

In a phone call with NBC on Sunday, the US president said: "New leadership means you're not gonna have a deal for a long time."

Trump also threatened to impose extra tariffs on countries buying Russian oil if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire.

"If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia's fault - which it might not be... I am going to put secondary tariffs... on all oil coming out of Russia," Trump is reported as saying.

But later on Sunday, Trump told reporters he and Putin had "always gotten along well" and that he didn't think Putin was "going to go back on his word".

Trump repeated that he "wasn’t happy" with recent comments Putin has made, but added: "I think he’s going to be good."

Jenna Moon
Live editor

For weeks, European leaders have worried that Donald Trump is being too friendly with Vladimir Putin, as he works to negotiate an end to the more than three-year-long war in Ukraine.

On Sunday, that appeared to change: in a phone call to NBC News journalist Kristen Welker, the US president said he was "very angry" with Putin, and threatened to impose extra tariffs on countries buying Russian oil if there wasn't a deal in Ukraine.

"You could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when... Putin started getting into Zelensky's credibility, because that's not going in the right location," Trump said.

It’s a noticeable shift in rhetoric for Trump. But the US president later appeared to soften his stance, telling reporters aboard Air Force One he didn’t think Putin would "go back on his word".

We’ll be examining Trump’s shifting tone and what it could mean for the war. Stick with us.

Image source, Reuters