President Donald Trump has demanded that Russia end its invasion of Ukraine or face punitive economic measures.
In a post to his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said he was “not looking to hurt Russia,” adding that “I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin.”
“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.
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“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have 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 said he wants to “get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with” and that Russia can “do it the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better.”
Last month, Trump called for a ceasefire and negotiations to occur between Russia and Ukraine in light of the heavy losses experienced by both sides of the nearly three-year-old conflict.
“Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians,” Trump stated on Truth Social at the time, saying that he knew Russian President Vladimir Putin “well” and that it was “his time to act.”
“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin alleging that the attack was done to secure the rights of pro-Russian communities in Eastern Ukraine.
Although many assumed that Russian forces were going to steamroll Ukraine in a relatively short period of time, Ukrainian resistance was resilient, with the invasion bogging down.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed optimism about the impact of Trump’s return to the presidency on the conflict, believing that the war could end sooner under the new administration.
In an interview with the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne published in November, Zelensky said he was “on the side of supporting Ukraine.”
“I think Putin does not want peace. But this does not mean that he does not want to sit down at the negotiating table with one of the leaders. For him, this is the destruction of political isolation. It is beneficial for him to sit down and talk,” he stated.
Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Zelensky in Paris in December as many world leaders gathered in France to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
The meeting, which Macron proposed, occurred at the Élysée Palace shortly before the cathedral ceremony, France 24 reported, with Zelensky calling the discussion “good and productive.”
