On Wednesday, President Trump called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a deal to end the war in Ukraine and threatened that if it doesn’t come to an end, he will place additional tariffs and sanctions on Russian goods.
“I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin – and this despite the Radical Left’s Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.” the president added.
Trump said no more lives should be lost in the war and said a deal could be done “the easy way, or the hard way.”
US sanctions on Russia that were imposed under President Biden did nothing to stop the war in Ukraine and did not destroy the Russian economy as the Biden administration had hoped. It’s unclear if there are any additional sanctions Trump could impose on Russia that would make any difference.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that it is the policy of the administration to bring the war to a close, and The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Trump had instructed his envoy to the Ukraine war, Keith Kellog, to reach a settlement in 100 days, but it remains unclear what sort of deal the US might offer Russia.
