It's Time to ‘Make a Deal’: US President Trump Urges Russia to End War in Ukraine or ‘it will get worse’
US President Donald Trump has called on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop the senseless war against Ukraine and ‘make a deal’, as it will ‘only get worse’ for Russia. He threatened to impose new sanctions and duties on all Russian exports to the United States if Russia does not agree to this step. Trump wrote about this on Truth Social.
‘I don't want to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people and have always had a very good relationship with President Putin - despite the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ myth of the radical left. We must never forget that Russia helped us win World War II at the cost of almost 60,000,000 lives. With all of this in mind, I am going to do Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and President Putin a very big favour. Make a deal now and end this senseless war!’ Trump wrote.
He warned that ‘it's only going to get worse’. If there is no deal soon, Trump stressed that he would have no choice ‘but to impose high taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the United States and other countries involved’.
‘Let's end this war, which would never have started if I were president! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better,’ Trump suggested.
Earlier, President Donald Trump also said that he would consider imposing additional sanctions on Russia as its war in Ukraine approaches its third anniversary.
Asked whether he would impose additional sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin does not come to the negotiating table, Trump replied: ‘It sounds likely.’
‘We're talking to Zelenskyy. We're going to talk to President Putin very soon, and we'll see what - how that all happens,’ Trump said, criticising the European Union for not spending enough to help defend Ukraine.
Trump said he would ‘consider’ whether the US would send additional weapons to Ukraine. In recent months, the Biden White House has been working to get as much weapons and money into Kyiv's hands as possible before leaving office, acknowledging that Trump could return much of what remains unspent of the $61 billion in funding approved by Congress in 2024.
Trump also confirmed that he discussed the war during a recent phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping: ‘He has a lot of power, and so do we. I said you have to settle this.’
Zelenskyy would like peace, Trump said: ‘But it takes two to tango. Let's see what happens.’