Washington – President Trump said Friday that he is “strongly considering” imposing sanctions and tariffs on Russia until it agrees to a cease-fire and peace treaty that will end Moscow’s three-year war with Ukraine.
Mr. Trump’s post on Truth Social appears to be a response to Friday’s drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. The president stated that because Russia is “absolutely ‘pounding'” Ukraine, “I am strongly considering large-scale banking sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs on Russia until a cease-fire and final peace settlement agreement are reached.”
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump wrote in a letter.
The president’s threats of tariffs and sanctions are the first sign that he is considering taking action against Russia since his tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House a week ago.
However, President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he is “finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine, and they do not have the cards.”
“I find that in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia — which is surprising — because they have all the cards,” he told CNN.
The president acknowledged that Ukraine is receiving “tremendous punishment” as a result of Russia’s air assaults, but appeared to defend Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling reporters that he is “doing what anybody else would do.”
“I think he wants to get it stopped and settled and think he is hitting it harder than he is been hitting them,” Trump said about the Russian leader. “I believe that anybody in that position would be doing that right now.” He wants it to end, and I believe Ukraine does too.”
Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy were scheduled to sign a key rare earth minerals agreement and hold a news conference at the White House last week, but the Ukrainian leader’s visit was cut short when an Oval Office meeting between the two and top US and Ukrainian officials became openly contentious.
At the meeting, the president told Zelenskyy that he needed to reach a cease-fire agreement with Russia or “we are out,” and Vice President JD Vance accused Ukraine’s leader of being “disrespectful” and not sufficiently grateful for US support in combating Russia’s aggression.
Following the meeting, Mr. Trump suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing.
However, negotiations between the United States and Ukraine appear to be resuming, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House national security adviser Michael Waltz scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia next week to meet with a Ukrainian delegation, Waltz said Friday.
“We had initial engagement with the Russians, and the Ukrainians saw a great opportunity to bind our economies together through that mineral deal,” Waltz told reporters at the White House.
“Unfortunately that did not go so well, but we think we are going to get things back on track.” Mr. Trump also announced that NATO Secretary General Rutte would visit next week.
Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told reporters Wednesday that the goal is to “get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire.”
Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a speech Thursday that the Trump administration has kept enhanced sanctions on Russia in place “and will not hesitate to go ‘all in,’ should it provide leverage in peace negotiations,” according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy stated that Russia must stop its attacks as the first step toward peace.
“Ukraine is prepared to pursue the path to peace, and Ukraine has sought peace since the beginning of this war. “The goal is to force Russia to end the war,” he wrote on social media Friday.
