Trump, frustrated over Ukraine peace progress, threatens tariff or sanctions on Russia if no decision in 2 weeks

US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he is going to make a “very important decision” in the next two weeks regarding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. While speaking to the reporters in the Oval Office, Trump suggested that he might impose “massive sanctions or tariffs” on Russia or tell Ukraine that “it’s not Washington’s war” if both sides do not agree to a peace deal.

Trump insisted that his decision would depend on what happens in the next two weeks as he continues to push for a trilateral meeting between him and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, respectively.

“In two weeks, we are going to know which way I am going because I’m going to go one way or another. It’s going to be a very important decision. I’m gonna decide whether it’s not massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or do we do nothing and say it’s your fight,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It takes two to tango. I wanted to have a meeting with those two. We’ll see if they don’t have a meeting, then why it was so, after I told them to have a meeting,” he added.

Trump wants the war to end

When asked about an American factory reportedly hit in Ukraine by a Russian missile, Trump said: “I’m not happy about it, and I’m not happy about anything about that war. I’ve settled seven wars, and you think about pre-wars, that’ll be three, so 10 wars. Not happy at all. Over the next two weeks, we are going to find out how it’s going to go.”

During his rant over the Ukraine war, Trump again claimed that he had stopped a ‘potential’ nuclear war between India and Pakistan, along with six wars. “We solved what could’ve been a nuclear war with India and Pakistan. It was getting ready to be a nuclear war,” he averred.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Putin is ready to meet Zelenskyy, provided all the issues relating to the conflict are settled between the two nations. “The Russian president repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Zelensky, if there is an understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level have been worked out thoroughly by experts and ministers,” Lavrov told RT. 

Zelenskyy and Putin are like oil & vinegar: Trump

While commenting on the prospects of a trilateral meeting, Trump likened Putin and Zelenskyy to “ mixing oil and vinegar”, indicating that his administration has been unable to get the two leaders to talk.

“We’re going to see if Putin and Zelenskyy will be working together, you know, that’s like oil and vinegar, a little bit. They don’t get along too well for obvious reasons, but we’ll see,” Trump said.

When asked about his own participation in the talks, the president said, “And then we’ll see whether or not I would have to be there. I would rather not. I would rather have them have a meeting and see how they can do. But in the meantime, they continue to fight and they continue to kill people, which is very stupid because they’re losing 7000 people.”

Hence, it will be interesting to see exactly when these world leaders will sit down to discuss war in Ukraine.