Trump again threatens Russia sanctions

Reuters :

US President Donald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia on Friday if there is no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

“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,” Trump said.

He said he was unhappy about Russia’s strike on an American factory in Ukraine this week, which caused a fire that injured some of the facility’s employees.

“I’m not happy about it, and I’m not happy about anything having to do with that war,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile, said on Friday that Russia was doing everything it could to prevent a meeting between him and Putin, while Russia’s foreign minister said the agenda for such a meeting was not ready.

Zelenskiy has repeatedly called for Putin to meet him, saying it is the only way to negotiate an end to the war.