Jan. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Moscow with sanctions and called on President Vladimir Putin to make a deal to end Russia’s war with Ukraine for the sake of his economy.
Trump, who promised on the campaign trail that he could end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine quickly, said he and Putin always had a good relationship and used a little bit of flattery, reminding readers how Russia helped the allies win World War II.
“All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose economy is failing, and President Putin a very big favor,” Trump said in his public negotiation on Truth Social.
“Settle now and stop this ridiculous war. It’s only going to get worse. If we don’t make a ‘deal’ 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.”
Trump ended his message by saying that “no more lives should be lost,” and that it can be done “the easy way or the hard way.”
In comments to reporters at the White House this week, Trump suggested that Putin was destroying his own country by not making a deal and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready for a diplomatic end to fighting.
In his comments, Trump was noncommittal to continuing support to Ukraine and added that allied European countries should be doing more to support them.
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