U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hand with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

A weekend call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy devolved into a "shouting match," and Russian state media pundits are now declaring it the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin's influence over Trump.

Mediaite reported Monday on a recent segment by CNN's Erin Burnett, in which she highlighted comments by Russian media bragging about Trump being captive to Putin. Burnett said Trump's "complete 180" on supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia prompted Russian propagandists to refer to the U.S. president as "Putin's puppet."

Burnett then played a clip captured by Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis, who runs the Russian Media Monitor account. Davis reported that on the show "Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov," one pundit said Trump is simply playing Putin's game when it comes to Ukraine.

"Putin understands Trump all too well. Trump doesn’t understand Putin," the guest said. "Putin can manipulate him very well and lead Trump by his nose."

During the call with Zelenskyy, Trump didn't commit to sending Ukraine long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles despite earlier suggestions that he may do so. Davis wrote Monday that one Russian media host said that Trump was simply teasing Zelenskyy with the potential for Tomahawks "like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey." He further opined that in the coming summit in Budapest, Hungary between Trump and Putin, if Zelenskyy ends up attending it will be "solely to sign his capitulation."

As CNBC reported, the source of the tension on the call between Trump and Zelenskyy came from Trump insisting that the Ukrainian leader accept Putin's conquest of Ukraine's Donbas territory in the east for the sake of ceasing hostilities. The initial 2022 invasion was over the Donbas territory, and came eight years after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

“It’s cut up right now, I think 78 percent of the land is already taken by Russia," Trump said on Sunday. "They should stop right now at the battle lines. ... Go home, stop killing people and be done."