President Trump threatened massive sanctions against Russia on Friday over its continued attacks on Ukraine as he attempts to broker a cease-fire in the more than three-year war between the nations.
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”
Trump, 78, has sought to pressure both sides to the table to end the war and his aides are due to meet next week with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday the parties would be discussing plans for a cease-fire after Washington paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked to leave the White House last Friday after an Oval Office argument in which Trump faulted him for, among other things, being skeptical of the value of a temporary cease-fire.
“We can’t just speak about cease-fire and speak and speak. It will not work,” Zelensky said at that meeting, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s record of broken agreements and fear of future attacks.
Trump told him: “Look, if you could get a cease-fire right now, I tell you you’d take it, so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.”
The US president argues that a pending framework pact that would grant America a 50% stake in Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals would effectively give Kyiv security guarantees through the presence of mining personnel.
France and the UK also plan to deploy peacekeeping troops when fighting ends to shield against future incursions.
Former President Joe Biden progressively increased economic pressure on Russia to halt the war but didn’t move to sanction oil exports until 10 days before he left office.
Biden also didn’t sanction many of Moscow’s oligarchs, including a pair of billionaires who shopped for US property with his son Hunter Biden during the Obama-Biden administration.
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