SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
London: Donald Trump has warned his Russian counterpart that the US is ready to punish Moscow with a barrage of new trade restrictions if it fails to reach an agreement soon to end the war in Ukraine.
The US President’s statement on Wednesday marked his first broad statement about the conflict since he returned for his second term in the White House, as he tries to ratchet up pressure on Vladimir Putin to launch negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in 2017.Credit: nnariwood
Trump urged Putin to make a deal to end the “ridiculous” war or face new tariffs and sanctions but also stressed that he doesn’t want to hurt the Russian people.
“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and 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 wrote on Truth Social.
“Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better.”
Trump said last year that he would resolve the war within 24 hours of being sworn in as president but has since backtracked and said that he hopes to end the fighting within six months. His comments are the first time he has spoken about how he plans to achieve that goal.
The Biden’s administration and many western economies imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow after it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. US trade with Russia has since plummeted, so any additional tariffs would have a limited impact.
Sanctions placed this month by the outgoing Biden administration on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, which together produce about half of Russia’s oil, triggered a surge in the cost of tanker shipping for Moscow.
Trump administration officials have said they believe there are more ways that the US could tighten the screws on Russia financially, particularly by further targeting its energy sector.
In his post, Trump touted his “very good relationship with President Putin” and said he was not looking to “hurt” Russia, but would be doing it a “favour” by pushing it to reach a deal.
He also referenced a special counsel investigation into coordination between his 2016 campaign and Moscow, saying it was a “HOAX” from the “Radical Left”. It did not find evidence that Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the result.
Trump said that the West must “never forget” the sacrifices made by Russia to defeat Nazi Germany.
Hours after being sworn in on Monday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Putin was “destroying Russia” by continuing to wage war in Ukraine.
Putin has said there can be no peace in Ukraine unless Kyiv surrenders four regions, as well as Crimea, and drops its ambitions to join NATO. He has also demanded that the West end all sanctions against Moscow.
Trump’s intervention came a day after the Ukrainian president insisted that Europe needed to become more independent of Washington because there was no guarantee Trump was committed to NATO.
Zelensky presented his scathing address as a wake-up call for European leaders, including in Britain and France, following Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
“Will president Trump even notice Europe? Does he see NATO as necessary? And will he respect EU institutions?” Zelensky asked in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Europe must establish itself as a strong global player,” he said, adding that, while the United States remains an indispensable ally, Washington doubts Europe’s ability to contribute meaningfully to global security.
Zelensky said at least 200,000 European soldiers would be required to serve as peacekeepers on Ukraine’s eastern front for a peace deal to be enforced.
“From all the Europeans? 200,000, it’s a minimum. It’s a minimum, otherwise it’s nothing,” he said.
During a visit to Kyiv earlier this month, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Britain would play its “full part” in supporting efforts to maintain an enduring peace in Ukraine. Prior to Christmas, both Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong would not rule out Australian defence personnel involvement in peacekeeping duties.
Trump, who has been sceptical of US military aid to Ukraine, said he expected to meet Putin soon and the Kremlin has said the Russian leader is ready to sit down with the US president, but no summit has been scheduled.
His special envoy for the Ukraine war, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News earlier this month he hoped to find a solution within “100 days”.
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