Trump threatens Russia with more sanctions
US President Donald Trump has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of launching attacks on Ukrainian “civilian areas” for “no reason” and not wanting to “stop the war,” and threatened Moscow with new sanctions.
The statement comes just as Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow’s readiness for unconditional talks with Kiev during a recent meeting with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump issued the threat in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, shortly after a brief meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in the Vatican. The US president sharply criticized Russia’s continuing long-range strikes against Ukraine, accusing Moscow of desiring to prolong the hostilities.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” Trump claimed.
Following a brief lull in fighting during the Easter ceasefire announced by Moscow last weekend, the Russian military staged multiple long-range strikes against Ukrainian military and industrial facilities over the week. Moscow has long maintained it strikes only targets used by the Ukrainian military.
“We only strike military targets or civilian sites used by the military,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told CBS News earlier this week.
Apart from threatening Russia with sanctions, Trump also reiterated his longstanding claim the Ukraine conflict would have never happened if he had been in office, blaming the crisis on his predecessors. He also lashed out at the New York Times and, in particular, its reporter Peter Baker, over a recent piece on the negotiations to bring the Ukrainian conflict to its end.
“No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it. Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests,” Trump wrote.
