What did Trump say? "With Putin, I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I'm going to bomb the s--- out of Moscow. I'm telling you I have no choice," Trump said on the tape. "And then [Putin] goes, like, ‘I don't believe you.

Is there a direct link between what US President Donald Trump says and what Russian President Vladimir Putin does? Certainly, the harsh words and bitter violence of recent days in Ukraine suggest the answer is maybe.