President Trump told Russia on Wednesday it needs to strike a deal to end its war with Ukraine or get hit with harsher sanctions and other penalties.
Mr. Trump, writing on Truth Social, told Russian President Vladimir Putin that too many people have died in the war and Moscow can resolve it “the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better.”
“If we don’t make a ’deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with!”
Mr. Trump said Russia’s economy is teetering from its invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022 and has resulted in hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians killed or wounded.
Former President Joe Biden sent billions of dollars to Ukraine, causing a backlash from conservatives who said Kyiv was getting a blank check without a clear plan for victory.
During the campaign, Mr. Trump pledged to end the war swiftly.
Mr. Trump’s orbit has suggested that, as a practical matter, Ukrainian officials would have to cede territory to Moscow as part of a truce, angering some Democrats and officials in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump has been reluctant to criticize Mr. Putin publicly. On Wednesday, he pointed to their warm relationship and the Soviet Union’s work alongside the U.S. to win World War II.
Source: The Washington Times
