Trump Renews Threats of Russia Sanctions as Moscow Dismisses Putin-Zelensky Summit
The US President, Donald Trump, renewed his threats to impose sanctions on Russia if no progress is made toward a peace deal in Ukraine.
Trump’s announcement followed a Russian rejection of a proposed summit between Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, until Moscow’s conditions are met.
Sanctions Threat
On Friday, Trump raised the possibility of imposing new sanctions or tariffs on Moscow, in an apparent show of frustration with Putin a week after their meeting in Alaska.
“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,” he told reporters at the White House.
The US President also expressed unhappiness about a Russian strike on an American factory in Ukraine, which sparked a fire that left some employees injured, according to Reuters.
“I’m not happy about it, and I’m not happy about anything having to do with that war,” Trump said.
On Thursday, Trump set a two-week deadline to evaluate progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. “I would say within two weeks we’re going to know one way or the other. After that, we’ll have to maybe take a different tack,” he said in an interview with Newsmax.
Putin-Zelensky Summit
During a meeting between Trump, Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on Monday, the US President called Putin and said later that he would begin arrangements for an in-person meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, without revealing details about the time and place of such meeting.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Zelensky, on his part, accused Russia of stalling and obstructing efforts for holding that meeting. “The meeting is one of the components of how to end the war. And since they don’t want to end it, they will look for space to (avoid it),” he said on Friday at a press conference in Kyiv with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
No Summit on Russia’s Agenda
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, made clear that Moscow has no plans for such a meeting with Zelensky until Ukraine agrees to its demands to end the war.
During an interview with NBC, Lavrov said that the agenda was not ready for that summit. “Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,” he said
Commenting on Lavrov’s remarks, Trump said: “We’re going to see whether or not they have a meeting. We’re going to see if Putin and Zelensky will be working together. It’s like oil and vinegar a little bit.”
Putin’s Demands
Moscow has long adhered to its demands to end the war in Ukraine, including Kyiv ceding control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that Russia annexed in 2022, in addition to Crimea – demands that Ukraine firmly rejects.
Following Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Reuters reported that Russia proposed a new deal for ending the war, which includes Ukraine’s full withdrawal from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for a Russian pledge to freeze the front lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
However, the EU top foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned that talks about Ukraine ceding land to Russia is “exactly the trap that Russia wants us to walk into,” she told the BBC, adding that this would amount to rewarding the country that started the fighting.
