Trump says he canceled Putin meeting because 'it didn’t feel right' to him

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he canceled an upcoming summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin because "it didn’t feel right" to him.

"We canceled the meeting with President Putin, it didn't feel right to me," Trump told reporters at the White House alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

"It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future," he added.

Trump also expressed his frustration over the lack of progress in the negotiations.

"In terms of honesty, the only thing I can say is, every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don't go anywhere. They just don't go anywhere," he said.

His remarks came right after the US announced new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, citing Moscow’s “lack of serious commitment” to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine.

When asked why he is elevating sanctions against Russia right now, Trump said: "I just felt it was time. We’ve waited a long time."

He said these are "tremendous" sanctions.

"We hope that they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled," he added.