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

Donald Trump has warned that he will impose more sanctions and sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.

Writing on his social network Truth Social, he said that by pushing to end the war he was doing with Russia and his president “a very big favor”.

Mr Trump has previously said that he will discuss ending the major conflict caused by the Russian invasion in February 2022, within one day.

Russia has not yet responded to the statement, but government officials said a few days ago that there is little chance that Moscow will oppose the new US administration.

Putin has repeatedly said that he is ready to discuss the end of the war, but that Ukraine must accept the reality of the benefits of Russian territories, which are currently close to 20% of its territory. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join NATO.

Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted that he may have to temporarily give up some of the occupied territories.

On Tuesday, Trump told a news conference that he would speak with Putin “soon” and that it was “understood” that he would use more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.

But in his Social Truth article on Wednesday, he went further: “I will make Russia, whose economy is failing, and President Putin, the greatest LOVE,” he wrote.

“Get it right now, and STOP this stupid war! IT’S GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no choice but to put Tariffs, Tariffs, and Sanctions on everything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other countries that are taking participate.

Continuing, he said: “Let’s take this war, which didn’t start if I were President, after it! We can do it easy, or hard – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “GET WORKED”.

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, previously told Reuters that the Kremlin needs to know what Trump wants to do to end the war before the country can move forward.

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

And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force in his country should include the US military to protect Russia.

“It cannot be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it is possible, no it cannot be,” he said, adding that no one would risk such a move without the US.

While Ukraine’s leaders may appreciate Trump’s tough talk – he always says Putin only understands power – the reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments shows that it is what people expect, not words.

Trump did not specify where more economic sanctions would be imposed, or when. Russian exports to the U.S. have been reduced since 2022 and there are restrictions of all kinds already in place.

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

On social media, there was a negative response from Ukrainians. Many also said that the increased sanctions were a weak response to Russia’s aggression. But the big question for many is whether Putin is ready to negotiate with Ukraine in any peace talks.

In Moscow, meanwhile, some are seeing signs that the Kremlin may be counting on the Russians to accept a supposed “victory,” which includes tanks rolling west into the Ukrainian city of Odesa.

TV host Margarita Simonyan, who supports Putin, has started talking about a “real” end to the war, which she says would include stopping the fighting on the front line.

This means that four Ukrainian regions that Putin declared part of Russia more than two years ago, such as Zaporizhzhia, are still controlled by Kyiv.

The brave Russians, who are called “Z” bloggers, are angry at such a “defeat”.

In a statement on his social media website, Trump also dismissed threats of higher tariffs and sanctions in terms of “love” for the Russian people and highlighted his respect for the Soviet defeat in World War II – a very sacred topic for Putin – even as Trump expressed excessively. numbers and seemed to think that the USSR was only Russia. In fact, millions of Ukrainians and other citizens of the Soviet Union also lost their lives.

That said, the man who previously said he “can understand” Russia’s concerns about Ukraine joining Nato — which for Kyiv is tantamount to saying Putin was pissed off — appears to be changing his tune.

Trump’s position is important. But after 11 years of war with Russia and a history of peace agreements, Ukrainians do not want to be optimistic.