MAD Vlad Putin is a “psychopath” and Donald Trump must not be fooled by his fake promises to “negotiate”, Bill Browder warned today.

The leading business campaigner, dubbed Putin’s “number one enemy”, implored the new US President not to back down as pressure builds to put an end to the devastating Ukraine war.

Mr Browder also argued that Trump is encouragingly “hardening” his tone on Russia as he begins to realise Mad Vlad will never engage in the Art of a Deal.

Speaking to Never Mind the Ballots from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the financier said: “Putin doesn’t negotiate. He doesn’t.

“I’ve been in conflict with Putin for 15 years.

“He never compromises, he never negotiates, he never backs down.”

Mr Browder, whose lawyer died in a Russian prison, added: “The only, the only thing that Trump could offer him is a total capitulation of Ukraine.

“But that’s not in Trump’s interest.

“That would be worse than than Biden withdrawing from Afghanistan.”

It comes as the President yesterday slapped the Russian tyrant with an ultimatum to sign a deal to end the “ridiculous” war in Ukraine – or face the consequences.

Trump threw the gauntlet squarely at Putin’s feet, threatening: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

He warned of a tirade of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything sold from Russia to the US and other countries if Putin does not co-operate with peace talks.

During the election campaign Trump repeatedly vowed to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours”, and since taking office he has been criticised for missing his deadline.

The UK estimates that Russia will likely hit one million losses of life in the war this year.

But Mr Browder warned huge casualty figures will make no difference to Putin, who will push on until he captures the entirety of Ukraine.

The activist said: “How many people did Stalin lose in the Second World War? Tens of millions.

“So if Putin lost a million, he could lose five million.

“The guy is a sociopath at best, a psychopath path more more likely.

“He doesn’t care how many people he loses. All he wants is to be the top the strong man, the winner of this whole thing.”

Trump has not spoken to Putin since being sworn in on Monday, but the leaders are thought to be arranging a conversation.

This is not the first time since coming to power that Trump has taken aim at Putin’s war.

Shortly after taking office he said: “[Putin] has to make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal.

“I think Russia is going to be in big trouble. He can’t be thrilled that he’s not doing so well.

“I mean, he’s grinding it out, but most people thought the war would be over in about a week, and now it’s been three years, right?”

Trump first demanded a ceasefire in early 2022, and since then both Ukraine and Russia have suffered huge losses over almost three years of fighting.