Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called President Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin a “disaster,” claiming that it resulted in the Russian leader getting “everything he wanted.”
“That meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure,” Murphy said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “Putin got everything he wanted. I mean, first of all, he wanted that photo op, right? He wanted to be absolved of his war crimes in front of the world. He was invited to the United States.”
Trump and Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15 for a summit on ending the war in Ukraine, but the high-stakes meeting wrapped up without the pair reaching the ceasefire Trump was seeking.
Trump, who praised the meeting as a “10 out of 10,” said following the meeting that now it is “really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done.” Zelenskyy wasn’t invited to the summit.
“We have a pretty good chance of getting it done,” Trump added. Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet on Monday at the Oval Office. Trump has also discussed plans to set up a joint meeting between him, Putin and Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Putin referred to the meeting as “very useful,” but neither Trump nor Putin mentioned an end to the fighting in Ukraine.
Murphy went on to tell host Kristen Welker that “war criminals are not normally invited to the United States of America.”
“[Putin] is intentionally murdering civilians, he’s kidnapping children, and now he got to stand next to the President of the United States, legitimized in the view of the world,” Murphy continued.
Claiming that Putin “didn’t have to give up anything” during his meeting with Trump, he added, “Nothing. Right? President Trump said he wanted a ceasefire. It appears the ceasefire wasn’t even seriously discussed. And then, third, there’s no consequences.”
Murphy continued, “Trump said, ‘If I don’t get a cease fire, Putin is going to pay a price.’ And then he walked out of that meeting saying, ‘I didn’t get a cease fire. I didn’t get a peace deal, and I’m not even considering sanctions.’”
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The politician then pointed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” in which he admitted “we’re still a long ways off” from a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia after the meeting flopped between Trump and Putin.
“You heard Secretary Rubio downplay sanctions. And so Putin walks away with his photo op with zero commitments made and zero consequences,” Murphy told Welker. “What a great day for Russia.”
Watch Murphy’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” here.