Putin has repeatedly said he is willing to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but Ukraine will have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which currently make up about 20% of its territory. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join NATO.
Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Vladimir Zelensky has admitted that he may have to temporarily cede part of the occupied territories.
On Tuesday, Trump said at a press conference that he would speak with Putin “very soon” and that it “sounds likely” that he will impose additional sanctions if the Russian leader does not come to the negotiating table.
But in his post on Truth Social on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to give Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and President Putin a very big SNAP,” he wrote.
“Settle now and STOP this ridiculous war! IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. If we do not make a ‘deal’ soon, I will have no choice but to impose high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on anything Russia sells to the United States and various other participating countries.”
Continuing, he said, “Let’s end this war that would never have started if I were president! We can do it the easy way or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to ‘MAKE UP’.”
Earlier, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, told Reuters that the Kremlin would need to know what Trump wanted from the ceasefire agreement before the country could move forward.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that any agreement would require at least 200,000 peacekeepers.
And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include American troops to be a real deterrent to Russia.
“It can’t happen without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can happen, no, it won’t happen,” he said, adding that no one else would risk such a move without the United States.
While Ukraine’s leaders might appreciate Trump’s tougher rhetoric — they’ve always said Putin only understands force — Kiev’s initial reaction to the U.S. president’s comments suggests people expect action, not words.
Trump did not specify where or when additional economic penalties might be sent. Russian imports to the US have plummeted since 2022, and all kinds of tough restrictions are already in place.
Currently, the main items of Russian exports to the USA are phosphate fertilizers and platinum.
