Trump Says He Taunted Putin About Inability To Win Ukraine War: 'Are You a Paper Tiger?'

President Donald Trump said he taunted Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over his inability to win the war in Ukraine after more than three years.

Speaking before hundreds of generals who flew to the U.S. from across the world to Quantico, Virginia, Trump discussed the different wars in which his administration mediated since he took office.

"I have settled so many wars. Seven and we might have settled the biggest of them all," Trump said in reference to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

He went on to say that he believed the "easiest" one to settle was Russia's invasion of Ukraine because "I knew Putin very well." "I thought that would be easy because I know him so well," he added.

"So disappointed in President Putin. I thought he would get this thing over with. I said to him 'you don't look good. You are four years fighting a war that should have taken a week. Are you a paper tiger?' It's a shame but eventually I think we'll get that one done," he added.

Tensions with Russia have been escalating, with European NATO countries reportedly telling Moscow they are ready to respond to repeated violations of members' airspace, including by shooting down fighter jets.

Bloomberg detailed last week that the message was conveyed by British, French and German envoys in Moscow and followed the incursion of three Russian jets over Estonia.

The European officials concluded that the violation had been deliberate, even though Russian officials denied that was the case and emphasized they are not seeking to test the alliance.

Officials added that a recent incursion of drones into Polish territory was a mistake, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claiming the country's military guides itself by international rules.

The warning came before U.S. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine could win back all the territory taken by Moscow "with the support of the European Union." Moreover, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if Moscow won't end the war soon, Kremlin officials should be well aware of the location of near bomb shelters.