President Donald Trump says it would be “very bad” for Chinese President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin if Washington discovers they are supplying weapons to Tehran as the war between the United States and Iran escalates.
“President Xi, at our recent meeting in Beijing, China, told me that he would not, under any circumstances, give or sell Weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran — And that statement included Chinese Companies,” Trump wrote on social media on Friday. “Considering our relationship, I take him at his word and, besides, l am doing him very big favors, also.”
Trump added that Putin has made similar promises to him, despite the U.S. providing weapons to NATO four years after Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine.
“Likewise, President Putin, despite the horrible War going on in Ukraine (The relationship remains, as it does with President Zelenskyy), told me that he would not sell Weapons to Iran,” Trump wrote. “He understands that I do not sell Weapons to Ukraine, but to NATO Countries. They pay full price, and how those Weapons are distributed, I have no idea. Therefore, two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating. If they did, it would be very bad for them — Certainly not in their best interests.”
Trump’s post coincides with the White House on Friday confirming the president will be meeting Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, when the Ukrainian president is in Washington for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) funeral.
The meeting also comes as the Senate appears poised to move on a Russia sanctions package, a priority of Graham, who was in Turkey for this year’s NATO summit and in Kyiv, Ukraine, the week before he died earlier this month.
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Trump is contemplating launching another major military operation against Iran after the collapse of peace and nuclear talks and following the deaths of four U.S. service members in the region last week.
“I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” the president told Axios this week. “They haven’t received enough pain yet.”