Trump vows to impose sanctions on Russia until Ukraine is at peace

A few days after suspending military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday hinted at the possibility of enacting extensive U.S. penalties against Russia and urged both nations to continue peace talks.

Trump’s threat of tariffs and banking restrictions came after a Reuters story on Monday that said the White House was getting ready to offer Russia potential sanctions relief as part of the effort to put an end to the war and strengthen diplomatic and commercial relations with Moscow.

“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large-scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump stated on his social media accounts.

“Russia and Ukraine, please meet at the table immediately before it’s too late. I’m grateful.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops who launched a surprise invasion into Russia’s Kursk area last summer were nearly encircled by Russian forces, which Kyiv had believed would give it power over Moscow in any peace negotiations.

Later in the day, however, the president, who since taking office in January has criticized Kyiv and pushed the U.S. closer to Moscow, expressed a more accommodative opinion of President Vladimir Putin, stating that he thought the Russian leader desired peace.

“I think he’s hitting them harder than he has been hitting them, and I think he wants to stop and resolve it. Regarding Putin’s military assault, Trump stated, “I believe that anyone in that position would be doing that at this very moment.”

“I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine,” Donald Trump stated.
Open-source maps reveal that Ukraine’s standing in Kursk has drastically worsened over the past three days. The main Ukrainian force has been cut off from its key supply routes and almost halved by the Russian counteroffensive.

“The situation (for Ukraine in Kursk) is very bad,” Pasi Paroinen, a military expert with the Black Bird Group, the Finnish firm, told Reuters.

Overnight, Russian forces launched their first significant missile strike since the United States halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine, causing damage to gas and energy infrastructure within Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials reported ten injuries, including one child.

TRUCE CALL

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy replied to the incident by requesting an air and sea truce in an effort to strengthen Western support for Ukraine following the apparent U.S. diplomatic shift towards Moscow.

Using the Telegram chat service, Zelenskiy stated, “The first steps to establishing real peace should be forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks.”

Following Britain and France’s suggestion that a European force could oversee any long-term settlement, Moscow has rejected the concept of a temporary truce, which has also been put out by those nations, and declared that it would never permit NATO peacekeepers to enter Ukraine.

The United States and its allies had already imposed extensive sanctions on Russia, one of the largest oil producers in the world, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Measures to restrict Russia’s oil and gas earnings are part of the U.S. sanctions against the country, which include capping Russia’s oil exports at $60 a barrel. If Moscow decides to end the war in Ukraine, the U.S. government is looking into measures to reduce sanctions on Russia’s energy industry, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

Trump did not elaborate on potential sanctions on Russia.

Zelenskiy announced late Thursday that, despite his tense relationship with Trump, he will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before U.S. and Ukrainian officials hold discussions there later this week.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, has previously met with Russian officials in-depth. He stated that he was in talks with Ukraine over a framework for a peace deal to put an end to the three-year-old conflict and that a meeting with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia was scheduled for next week.

Russia’s soldiers are gradually gaining ground in the eastern Donetsk region, and it controls around 5% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it invaded in 2014.

Trump claims that a hypothetical agreement on key minerals would suffice, but the U.S. has refused to adhere to Kyiv’s demands for strong security assurances in any peace accord.

A week ago, Zelenskiy publicly argued with Trump and has failed to sign the minerals agreement.

According to White House national security advisor Mike Waltz, he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the negotiations with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia, and he believes they will help to restore the situation.

Rubio had a “constructive call” with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Friday, according to Sybiha.