Trump Warns Of ‘Massive Sanctions’ For Russia If Ukraine Conflict Doesn’t End

United States president Donald Trump on Friday said that he would make an important decision on Ukraine if there is no progress towards a peace settlement in two weeks. Trump warned that he might impose massive tariffs or he might do nothing, AFP reported. 

The US president claimed that he was unhappy about the Russian strike in Ukraine which struck an American factory. “I’m going to make a decision as to what we do and it’s going to be, it’s going to be a very important decision, and that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it’s your fight,” he said. 

Russia, however, denied any meeting set to take place between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said. The remarks came after Zelenskyy accused Russia of doing everything it can to prevent a meeting with Putin. 

Lavrov, however, accused Zelenskyy of saying “no to everything”. He claimed that Russia intends to show flexibility on a number of issues but Ukraine wasn’t doing so.

The remarks came after Putin’s meeting with Trump in Alaska on August 15. While speaking of the sanctions at the White House, Trump showed a photograph of his meeting with Putin on the red carpet in Alaska, saying Putin wanted to attend the World Cup 2026 football tournament in the US. “I’m going to sign this for him. But I was sent one, and I thought you would like to see it, it’s a man named Vladimir Putin, who I believe will be coming, depending on what happens. He may be coming, and he may not, depending on what happens,” he said, The Guardian reported.