Washington — President Trump said Friday that he is “strongly considering” imposing sanctions and tariffs on Russia until it agrees to a ceasefire and peace deal that would halt Moscow’s three-year war with Ukraine.
Mr. Trump’s post on his social media platform, Truth Social, appears to be in response to drone and missile attacks launched on Ukrainian energy facilities Friday. The president said that because Russia is “absolutely ‘pounding'” Ukraine, “I am strongly considering large scale banking sanctions, sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a cease fire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached.”
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Mr. Trump wrote.
The president’s threats of tariffs and sanctions are the first indication he is weighing adverse action against Russia since his tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House one week ago.
Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy were on track to sign a key rare earth minerals agreement and hold a news conference, but the Ukrainian leader’s visit ended abruptly after an Oval Office meeting between the two and top U.S. and Ukrainian officials became openly contentious.
The president told Zelenskyy at the meeting that he should reach a ceasefire deal with Russia or “we’re out,” and Vice President JD Vance accused Ukraine’s leader of being “disrespectful” and not sufficiently grateful for U.S. support of its efforts to combat Russia’s aggression.
In the wake of the meeting, Mr. Trump paused U.S. military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing.
Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine appear to be resuming, with officials from the two countries set to meet in Saudi Arabia next week, a senior official in Kyiv told AFP. Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, told reporters Wednesday that the goal is to “get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire.”
Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a speech Thursday that the Trump administration has kept enhanced sanctions on Russia in place “and will not hesitate to go ‘all in,’ should it provide leverage in peace negotiations,” according to Reuters.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said the first step toward achieving peace is for Russia to stop its attacks.
“Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war,” he wrote on social media Friday.
