Russia is mocking U.S. President Donald Trump as newspapers celebrate his “long and expensive” war.

Today’s Russian newspapers said “Iran events show that Russia can’t rely on any diplomatic agreements with the US,” and also added: “You mustn’t cross red lines. A red line was you mustn’t threaten USSR geo-political interests”.

They also said the American war in Iran is a “long, punishing, and very expensive” one. Russian daily paper, Kommersant, reported: “Trump wanted to strangle Tehran, but he’s tightened the noose around his own neck,” with several other Russian media outlets mocking the American leader’s Middle East strategy.

The same newspaper also said Trump “had tried to ‘strangle’ the authorities in Tehran but instead ended up ‘tightening the noose around his own neck’ – and even around countries that had no involvement in the US attack on Iran”.

Russian Editor Steven Rosenberg translated the Kommersant article as: “He messed up, and destroyed everything around him, but he wants someone else to clear the rubble and create a new structure. This is, of course, all about him, Donald Trump. The US president pinned Iran to the wall and practically forced it, for its own survival, to block such a key global transport artery as the Strait of Hormuz.”

Recently, Mr Trump raged at Keir Starmer and other European leaders over the Iran war. He said most NATO allies had told him they were unwilling to take part in the country’s military operation.

In a furious rant, Mr Trump said his requests for assistance in securing the Strait of Hormuz were rejected. The president further criticised NATO for doing “nothing” in a “time of need” despite the US protecting them, and today (March 18), added the US could leave the security of the Strait of Hormuz to countries including the UK who have failed to respond to his demand for warships to secure the waterway.

As Mr Trump said that “non-responsive” countries should get “in gear, and fast,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned the longer the crisis goes on, the worse its impact will be on the cost of living.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir defended his approach, insisting he would not allow UK forces to be drawn into a “wider war”. Iran has closed off the strait to most shipping, with commercial vessels coming under attack in the region.

He said: “I want to see this war end as quickly as possible. The longer it continues, the bigger the impact on the cost of living. And that’s why we intervened to support households with costs of heating oil. The best way forward is a negotiated settlement with Iran giving up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon.”

Keir has so far resisted Mr Trump’s demands for the Royal Navy to deploy to the strait, although the UK has unmanned minehunting drones already in Bahrain. Defence Secretary John Healey discussed the situation with his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Poland.