Trump threatens Russia with sanctions, keeps pause on aid to Ukraine in push to settle war
WASHINGTON – Saying he remains unconvinced Ukraine is ready for peace, President Donald Trump said Friday he would not immediately resume U.S. weapons and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Trump also threatened to put sanctions on Russia after it bombarded Ukraine with missiles and pushed both nations to pick up the pace of peace talks.
He said in a social media post that he was “strongly considering” large-scale banking restrictions, sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a peace deal is secured. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump said.
Ukraine's president Volodymr Zelenskyy outlined the terms of a potential ceasefire this week, as the country sought to get the spigot of U.S. assistance turned back on.
But addressing reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said he was not ready to reconsider the weapons pause.
"I have to know that they want to settle," Trump said. "I don't know that they want to settle. If they don't want to settle, we're out of there. Because we want them to settle."
Trump said he was "finding it more difficult frankly to deal" with Ukraine than Russian President Vladimir Putin's government, in spite of the missile and drone assault.
"I actually think he's doing what anybody else would do," Trump said of Putin's attack. "I think he wants to get it stopped and settled. And I think he's hitting them harder than he's been hitting them, and I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now."
The U.S. and its allies already have substantial sanctions on Russia that the Trump administration has said it intends to rigorously enforce. The threat of new punishments is part of Trump's attempt to broker peace between the two countries to end the war after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump issued Russian President Vladimir Putin an ultimatum two days after taking office to make a deal or pay a hefty economic price. Trump said then that he'd put all manner of economic penalties on anything sold by Russia and vaguely threatened secondary punishment against countries who do business with Moscow.
Russia pummeled Ukraine with missiles overnight, damaging energy infrastructure in the attack and leading to a renewed call from Zelenskyy for a ceasefire.
In a post on X after the Russian attack, Zelenskyy said, “The first steps toward real peace must include forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks against life.”
“Silence in the skies – banning the use of missiles, long-range drones, and aerial bombs. And silence at sea – a real guarantee of normal navigation. Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war,” he said.
Zelenskyy laid out similar terms for a ceasefire earlier in the week in a post meant to cool tensions with Trump, with whom he had been feuding since a spat in the Oval Office last Friday.
The relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine was thrown into chaos after a meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy went south, with the U.S. pausing and putting military assistance under review.
Zelenskyy angered administration officials, who accused him of being ungrateful for U.S. aid and being "disrespectful" of the president.
Trump’s administration has softened its tone in the days since Zelenskyy’s public plea, which he reiterated in a letter to the president.
Trump's administration is preparing to meet with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia week to discuss a peace deal.
National Security Adviser Michael Waltz said Friday that he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be leading the talks, which he hoped would put the relationship and a related minerals agreement "back on track."
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House on Friday that Trump is trying to get everyone to the negotiating table with incentives or penalties.
“President Trump is adamant that we need to get everybody to the table, and we could do that with carrots and we can do that with sticks,” Hassett said. “But the bottom line is, the President wants to stop the carnage. He wants to save lives and he wants to end the war.”
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, said Friday in a post on X, after Trump's sanctions threat that Russian strikes on Ukraine "must stop immediately if Russia truly wants to end the war."
"If Russia does not stop its strikes on Ukraine, it must face economic and other restrictions," Yermak said. "We support tougher sanctions against Moscow from the West and other measures."
Contributing: Bart Jansen