Trump flags showdown with Iran on nuclear, threatens Russia sanctions
The “other” appeared to be the US military operation Trump mentioned in his appearance on Fox Business, the full version of which is due to air on Sunday.
On the Ukraine war, Trump appeared to accept Putin was exploiting his decision to pause US military aid to Ukraine after the disastrous White House meeting with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I actually think he [Putin] is doing what anybody else would do,” Trump said. “I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he’s hitting them harder than he has been hitting them, and I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.”
Ukrainian emergency personnel work at the scene of a Russian Iskander ballistic missile attack on a residential building in the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
After announcing on social media that he was considering large-scale banking sanctions and tariffs “based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now”, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he found it more difficult to deal with Ukraine than Russia.
“In terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising because they have all the cards,” he said. “They’re bombing the hell out of them right now, and I put [out] a very strong statement, you can’t do that.”
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said the US would continue to engage in shuttle diplomacy to get both sides to the peace table. He and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia next week “to get these talks back on track”.
Trump said he still believed Putin wanted to negotiate a just end to the war, but was less certain about Ukraine. Asked why he would not provide air defences to the US ally in the face of Putin’s renewed aerial bombardment, Trump said: “Because I have to know that they want to settle. I don’t know that they want to settle. If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there.”
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In a video message overnight, Zelensky said there had been a flurry of phone calls between his government and the Trump administration and Ukraine was committed to a constructive approach to achieve peace “as soon as possible”.
He said the latest Russian attacks used 260 assets including cruise and ballistic missiles and drones to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, European Union leaders, mindful they may need to shoulder more of the burden for arming Ukraine and strengthen their own defences, agreed on a plan to significantly increase their military spending.
With AP
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