US President Donald Trump has finally decided to label Russia an aggressor in the war in Ukraine, wrote Politico magazine, which noted his statement to reporters on Sunday. According to the magazine, this shows that Trump has taken a tougher stance towards Moscow, TASR reports.

The US president has repeatedly suggested that Volodymyr Zelensky is responsible for the outbreak of war

Trump has previously refused to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and has also suggested several times that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bears responsibility for the outbreak of the war, which he has been trying to end since returning to the White House in January.

The US sided with Russia in February by rejecting a European draft UN resolution that expressed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and condemned Russia. In late February, it opposed the designation of Russia as an"aggressor" in a G7 statement issued to mark the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

Trump's stance on Russia changed over the past summer, according to the magazine

The statement, in which Trump, according to Politico, called Russia an aggressor, was made on Sunday, when he spoke about the Ukrainian and Russian military casualties, which, according to his information, 8,000 soldiers from both countries had lost their lives this week alone."There were a little more from Russia, but when you are the aggressor, the losses are greater," the magazine quoted the US president as saying to reporters before flying from New Jersey to Washington.

His stance on Russia has changed over the past summer, the magazine said. On Friday, he said he was running out of patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he recently met in person in Alaska. On Saturday, he said he was prepared to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia if all NATO members did the same and stopped buying Russian oil.

Trump said European countries should not buy Russian oil or other products

On Sunday, Trump said that even though he considers European countries his “friends,” they still buy Russian oil. “I don’t want them buying oil. And the sanctions they’re putting in place aren’t tough enough,” he said. But he also made it clear that he didn’t care whether it was oil or other products. “They shouldn’t be buying from Russia, whether it’s natural gas or cigarettes, I don’t care,” he added, adding that the Europeans are currently “all talk and no action.”