Russian president Vladimir Putin warned in an interview released Thursday that Moscow’s relationship with the U.S. is “getting worse by the hour.”
Relations with the U.S, are “going downhill, they are getting worse and worse,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript of his interview with the Mir TV channel. “The current administration has approved, in my opinion, several dozen decisions on sanctions against Russia in recent years.”
President Trump said Wednesday that he is considering slapping sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would provide Germany with easier access to Russian natural gas.
“I think it’s something that I’ve been looking at and I’ve been thinking about, and I’m the one that brought up the pipeline problem,” Trump told reporters, referring to his concerns about Germany being dependent on Russia for energy.
Trump also announced Wednesday that he will send 1,000 U.S. troops to Poland as a safeguard against Russian aggression in the region.
“I hope Poland is going to have a great relationship with Russia. I hope we’re going to have a great relationship with Russia, and by the way, China and many other countries,” he said. He added that he intends to meet with Putin at the G20 summit in Japan later this month, though Russia has cast doubt on that plan, saying the meeting is still “hanging in the air.”