President Trump said on Friday that he was “strongly considering” imposing sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a cease-fire and permanent peace deal is reached in its war against Ukraine.
In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said he was “strongly considering” what he described as “large scale” sanctions, because of the perilous state of the war, now in its fourth year.
His post came as Russia unleashed a furious bombardment aimed at critical Ukrainian infrastructure overnight on Thursday and on Friday. Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, said Russian forces launched a “massive missile and drone” assault on power and gas facilities across the country.
“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Mr. Trump wrote. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late.”
New sanctions would be the latest turnabout for Mr. Trump’s management of the war in Ukraine. He has spent weeks aligning himself with President Vladimir Putin’s narrative of the war, criticizing Ukraine for being invaded by Russia, and he recently halted U.S. aid to Kyiv and intelligence sharing after a tense Oval Office meeting last week with President Volodymyr Zelensky last month.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky have spent recent days smoothing over relations following the eruption, which resulted in Mr. Zelensky’s leaving the White House without signing a deal that would grant the United States a share of its revenues from mining rare earth metals.
Mr. Trump has insisted on the minerals deal, which he considers reimbursement for the more than $100 billion in military aid the U.S. has provided to the country to stave off Russia — is critical to the U.S.’s continued investment in bringing peace in the region. Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky have both indicated they were still interested in signing the deal.
But Mr. Trump has spoken sparingly about Russia’s role in the war, and what it ultimately wants to broker a peace deal. Russian officials met last month with top Trump officials in Saudi Arabia as Russia has signaled an openness to talks, though it has not said if it would accept a cease-fire or an agreement to end the war.
Moscow has given no public indication it would accept any truce, cease-fire or end to the war it launched three years ago. U.S. officials have said Russia had shown openness to continuing discussions.
On Thursday, speaking from the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said that U.S. negotiators had “made a lot of progress with Ukraine and a lot of progress with Russia over the last couple of days,” but was elusive on details.
“I think what’s going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don’t think they have a choice,” Mr. Trump said. “I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way — a different way that only I know, only I know — they have no choice.”
In his post on Friday, Trump urged both leaders to “get to the table right now, before it is too late.”
The Biden administration imposed numerous sanctions on Moscow, seeking to cripple the Russian economy and choke off its funding for its invasion, most recently targeting Russia’s energy sector and its “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials confirmed Thursday that Ukraine would send a delegation to meet with “military representatives of countries that are ready to make greater efforts to reliably guarantee security within the framework of ending this war.” He said the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, but did not specify who would attend.
At next week’s meeting, Mr. Zelensky said the Ukrainians would insist on a number of commitments from Russia to test whether a lasting peace could ultimately be reached. Those demands include Russian pledges not to attack Ukraine’s energy or other civilian infrastructure; a truce for missiles, bombs and long-range drones; and no military operations in the Black Sea.
“Ukrainians truly want peace, but not at the cost of giving up Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said. “The real question for any negotiations is whether Russia is capable of giving up the war.”
Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting from Tbilisi, Georgia, and Nataliya Vasilyeva from Istanbul.
