US President Donald Trump on Friday renewed his threat to impose sanctions on Russia if no progress is made toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine within two weeks. Speaking at the White House, Trump signalled frustration at Moscow just a week after his Alaska meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I’m going to make a decision as to what we do and it’s going to be, it’s going to be a very important decision, and that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it’s your fight,” Trump said.
The president voiced disapproval over Russia’s deadly strike on a factory in Ukraine, adding, “I’m not happy about it, and I’m not happy about anything having to do with that war. I settled seven wars Over the next two weeks, we are going to find out which way it will go, and I’d better be very happy.”
Trump said he had initiated arrangements for a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, Zelenskyy accused Russia of stalling. “The Russians are doing everything they can to prevent the meeting from taking place Since they don’t want to end it, they will look for space to avoid it,” Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, insisted the summit’s agenda was not ready, saying, “Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all.”
Trump also highlighted a lighter moment from his Alaska summit, presenting a photograph of himself with Putin on the red carpet. “I’m going to sign this for him He may be coming to the World Cup 2026 in the US, depending on what happens,” Trump said.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief said that the possibility of Ukraine ceding land to Russia as part of a peace deal to end their three-year war is “a trap” set by Putin. The Russian leader is demanding Ukrainian concessions in return for halting his army’s invasion, but granting him those demands would amount to rewarding the country that started the fighting, Kaja Kallas said. The recent talk about handing Putin concessions is “exactly the trap that Russia wants us to walk into,” Kallas said in an interview with the BBC.
– Ends