US President Donald Trump on January 22 pressed Russia to end the war immediately or face tougher sanctions, Reuters and AFP reported. Donald Trump had previously said he would end the war“Within 24 hours” of taking office, but that did not happen, the report said.
According to Donald Trump’s post on social media, he reportedly first said, “I don’t want to hurt Russia, I love the Russian people and have always had very good relations with President Putin… We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War.”
President Donald Trump, file photo
Later, Donald Trump said the US was interested in helping the Russians but would have to impose tougher sanctions if they did not strike a peace deal. He said, “I want to do a big favor for the Russians and President Putin, who are in a recession. Stop this ridiculous war now! The war will only get worse. If we don’t reach an agreement soon, I have no choice but to impose high tariffs and sanctions on anything Russia sells to the US and some other countries,” he added, “We can do it the easy way [ a ceasefire ] or the hard way, but the easy way is always better. Now is the time for an agreement. There should be no more deaths!”
According to Reuters, regarding Donald Trump’s remarks, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Polyanskiy said, the Russians must first understand what Donald Trump thinks a“Deal” to end the war in Ukraine means. It’s not just about ending the war, he told Reuters. “First, the root causes of the Ukraine crisis need to be addressed.”
According to Reuters, Donald Trump said dozens of times before winning the November 5 election that he would get a deal done on his first day in office. But Donald Trump’s aides have acknowledged that an agreement to end the war could take months or more.