Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Russian President Vladimir Putin was manipulating President Donald Trump during an appearance Monday night on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” Tillis said Putin was playing Trump “like a fiddle” and warned that history would judge the United States harshly if it abandoned Ukraine.
Tillis spoke shortly after a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and cited observations from a recent visit to Kyiv. He described schools holding classes in subways because they could not meet above ground and recounted accounts of sexual violence and killings that he attributed to orders from Putin.
In recent weeks Trump eased sanctions on Russia, restricted Ukrainian access to battlefield technology and called for Zelenskyy to be ousted, moves that drew concern across party lines. On Monday Trump told reporters outside the White House that Russia “frankly, has been fine on Ukraine” and added, as Trump put it to reporters, “They haven’t been doing much.”
Tillis, who is not seeking reelection this November, was not alone in his criticism. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told The Associated Press that Russia was the aggressor and called for economic pressure on Moscow, while Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Trump of giving the Russian economy life support.