US President Donald Trump has vented his frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin over his approach to a ceasefire in Ukraine, threatening a drastic escalation of economic pressure on Russia.
In a telephone interview, he threatened to levy tariffs on Moscow’s oil exports if the Russian leader does not agree to a truce within a month.
During the election campaign, Trump had said that he could end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
However, that has proved elusive.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, which it might not be, but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all … on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Vladimir Putin
According to Trump, the abrupt change of direction came after Putin had tried to attack the legitimacy of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
Appearing on Russian television, Putin had suggested Ukraine could be placed under a temporary UN-led government to organise fresh elections before negotiating a peace deal.
Trump has previously called the Ukrainian President a dictator, but on Sunday he said that he was “very angry, pissed off” when Putin “started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right location.”
He said that “new leadership means you’re not going have a deal for a long time, right” and that he wanted to exert pressure on the Kremlin, which has thrown up a string of questions about a peace settlement and only agreed to limited maritime and energy ceasefires so far.
Trump repeated that “if a deal isn’t made, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, I’m going to put secondary sanctions on Russia,” but then indicated he would quickly back down if there was progress on a ceasefire.
He said that the “anger dissipates quickly” if Putin “does the right thing,” adding that he expected to talk to his Russian counterpart this week.
Asked by a news agency if his relationship with Putin had fallen to its lowest point, Trump responded, “No, I don’t think so.”
“I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word … I was disappointed in a certain way. Some of the things that he said over the last day or two having to do with Zelenskyy … he’s supposed to be making a deal with him, whether you like him or you don’t like him. So I wasn’t happy with that.”
Vladimir Putin
Finland Hints At Role In Trump’s Intervention
Meanwhile, Finland indicated it may have had a role in Trump’s intervention.
A day before the interview, Trump spent time with his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
According to Stubb’s office, the two men had breakfast and lunch and played a round of golf on an unofficial visit.
Speaking to a news agency, Stubb revealed, “My message in the conversations I have with the President is that we need a ceasefire, and we need a deadline for the ceasefire, and then we need to pay a price for breaking a ceasefire.”
“So, number one, we need a ceasefire date, and I would prefer that to be Easter, say, 20 April, when President Trump has been in office for three months. If by then it’s not accepted or is broken by Russia, there needs to be consequences.
“And those consequences should be sanctions, maximum sanctions, and we continue the pressure up until the 20th and then we’ll see what happens.”
Alexander Stubb
It remains uncertain whether Trump’s bold gamble will be the tipping point for peace or yet another chapter in the ongoing struggle for control and influence in Ukraine.
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