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President Donald Trump has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the nearly three-year old war against Ukraine he started and is threatening further sanctions on Moscow if the Russian leader does not acquiesce.
In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “not looking to hurt Russia” and expressed “love” for the Russian people while boasting of his “very good relationship” with Putin, who in 2016 ordered what the Justice Department called a “sweeping and systematic” effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf.
He also noted that the former Soviet Union lost 60 million people when it allied itself against Nazi Germany and with the US and UK during the Second World War.
“All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” Trump said.
He added a threat that if a “deal” was not reached “soon,” he would “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 added: “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. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL.” NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!
It’s unclear what, if any Russian goods would be subject to tariffs, as a series of increasingly restrictive sanctions levied by the Biden administration in concert with dozens of other countries has crippled Russia’s economy and cut Moscow off from much of the international banking and finance system.
A series of sanctions imposed by Biden earlier this month targeted Russia’s energy sector. They covered two major Russian petroleum producers and exporters — Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas — both of which are involved in the export of liquified natural gas and efforts to expand the Russian energy sector into the Arctic.
Trump has not spoken to Putin since he was sworn in on Monday and the two leaders have reportedly spoken during the transition period following last year’s presidential election.
But the newly-minuted 47th president said he and his aides are working to arrange a conversation.
On Monday, he told reporters that Putin “can’t be thrilled” about how the war is going and said Russia is “not doing so well” against Kyiv’s forces.
“I mean, he’s grinding it out but most people thought that war would have been over in one week and now we’re into three years. So he can’t be thrilled, not making him look very good,” Trump said before adding that roughly one million Russian soldiers and 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died during the war.
Trump also said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has told him that he wants to “make a deal” to end the war.
“Zelensky wants to make a deal. I don’t know if Putin does…. He should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,” he said.
