Donald Trump has warned he will impose high tariffs and further sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump called out the Russian President by name in the social media post, arguing that he always had a good relationship with the leader, but that it was time to settle “this ridiculous War!”
“We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better,” Trump wrote on his social media website. ” ‘It’s time to MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!”
Trump said in his post that he was not “looking to hurt Russia” and that he’s offering Putin “a very big FAVOR,” considering the number of lives lost and the impacts on Russia’s economy. Russia actually sells very little to the United States. In the first 11 months of last year, the U.S. imported a little less than $3 billion worth of Russian goods. That’s about one-tenth of 1% of total U.S. imports. And it’s a reduction of about 90% from what the U.S. imported from Russia in 2021, the year before the invasion of Ukraine.
“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” he also wrote.
Trump on Ukraine War: It takes two to tango
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would like to have peace, “but it takes two to tango.”
“We’ll see what happens anytime they want,” Trump said. “I mean, I’d like to see that end. Millions of people are being killed, and they’re being killed. It’s a vicious situation.”
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he was elected president. He would go on to claim that Putin would never have invaded had Trump been president.
It’s unclear how much economic penalties would impact the Russian government. The Biden administration already imposed various sanctions on Russia’s economic sectors.
Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20 percent of its land. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join NATO.
Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded he may have to cede some currently occupied land temporarily.
Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.
And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include US troops to pose a realistic deterrent to Russia.
“It can’t be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can be, no it will not be,” he said, adding that no-one else would risk such a move without the US.
