Trump tells Putin to end ‘ridiculous war’ in Ukraine or face new sanctions

Putin has said several times that he is ready to negotiate to end the war, but that Ukraine must accept the reality of Russia’s territorial gains, which are currently around 20% of its land. Meanwhile, Kyiv said it was not ready to give up its territory.

On Tuesday Trump said at a news conference that he would talk to Putin “soon” and that it was “very likely” that he would apply more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.

But in his Social Truth post on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to do Russia, whose economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big favor,” he wrote.

“Settle now, and STOP this silly 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 sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Continuing, he said: “Let’s win this war, which would never have started if I was the President, more with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE IT . A deal “https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/.”

Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy earlier told the Reuters news agency that the Kremlin needs to know what Trump wants in a deal to end the war before the country moves forward.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed in any deal.

And he told Bloomberg that a peacekeeping force for his country should include US troops to provide a realistic deterrent to Russia.

“It can’t be without the United States … Even if some European friends think it can, no it won’t,” he said, adding that no one else would take such a risk without the US.

While Ukraine’s leaders may appreciate this tougher-talking Trump – they always say Putin only understands power – the initial reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments showed that it was actions, not words, that people were waiting for.

Trump has not specified where more economic sanctions might be aimed, or when. Russian imports to the US have been declining since 2022 and there are all kinds of restrictions already in place.

Currently, Russia’s main exports to the US are phosphate- and platinum-based fertilizers.