Trump's threat against Russia runs parallel to a Senate-led effort to pass crippling sanctions on countries that buy Russian energy.

Trump also revealed that Putin had recently offered to assist in mediating between Israel and Iran during their brief June conflict — an offer he declined. “I said, ‘No, no, you help me get a settlement with you, with Russia,’” Trump recounted. “And I think we're going to be doing that too.”

The weapons for Ukraine would henceforth be bought by European allies rather than donated from American stocks or bought from manufacturers with American money, as in the past. Billions of dollars’-worth of funds authorised by Congress under his predecessor,