US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would not hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin unless the Russian leader showed genuine intent to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
“I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal. I’m not going to be wasting my time,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to Asia.
“I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing,” the US leader said. “I thought this would have gotten done before peace in the Middle East.”
On Wednesday, the United States slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, saying that the talks with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine war don’t go anywhere.
Day after slapping sanctions on two major Russian oil companies, teh Trump administration is now planning additional sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin prolongs the war on Ukraine.
A US official said the new sanctions on Russia are designed to target critical sectors of the Russian economy, with a focus on banks and oil infrastructure.
US officials have also indicated to their European counterparts that they back the EU using frozen Russian assets to purchase US weapons for Kyiv, and Washington has also begun internal discussions on using Russian assets held in the US to support Ukraine’s war effort, according to two officials Reuters quoted
Trump had held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed.
The Republican billionaire has however said he hopes that the sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil are short-lived and that the “war will be settled.”
What Putin said?
Putin admitted the sanctions were “serious” but insisted they were “not enough” to significantly damage the Russian economy.
Putin said, “They [sanctions] are serious for us, of course, that is clear. And they will have certain consequences, but they will not significantly impact our economic well-being.”
But the Russian leader said he remained open to dialogue with Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the US sanctions “a strong and much-needed message that aggression will not go unanswered.” The European Union levied tough sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sector in parallel to the US measures.
Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, war in Ukraine, US sanctions on Russia, Russian oil companies
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