Trump threatens Russia with ‘crushing' sanctions
US President Donald Trump has stated that Washington will impose new sanctions on Russia if it fails to reach a peace settlement with Ukraine. His remarks came shortly after the two countries held their first direct negotiations since 2022.
In an interview aired on Friday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Trump whether he would introduce new restrictions on Moscow. 'Honestly, I will if we're not going to make a deal,' the president said. 'Nobody uses leverage better than me.'
Trump added that the U.S. would assess the outcome of Friday's Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul. 'We'll see what happens. It will be crushing for Russia because they're having a hard time with the economy,' he said. He also argued that his plan to boost domestic oil production would lower global prices, undermining Russia's energy exports.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
US issues security alert for Kiev
The US Embassy in Kiev has advised Americans not to ignore air-raid sirens and to shelter appropriately, warning of 'a continued risk of significant air attacks,' in a new security alert issued on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin 'did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond' to recent Ukrainian attacks on airfields hosting Russian strategic bombers, US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday evening, revealing details of their unannounced conversation that day. The US State Department issued the security alert just hours earlier, advising Americans currently in Ukraine to 'identify shelter locations in advance' and to 'keep reserves of water, food, and medication.' 'Russia has increased the intensity of its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, and there is currently a continued risk of significant air attacks,' the advisory stated. On Monday, Ukrainian drones struck multiple Russian airbases in a coordinated assault targeting long-range, nuclear-capable bombers. Moscow said most of the incoming drones were intercepted, without confirming any losses or staging any immediate military response. Kiev also targeted multiple Russian civilian sites over the weekend, killing at least seven people and injuring over 120, in what Moscow branded as terrorism. Putin on Wednesday described the railway sabotage incidents in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions as 'undoubtedly a terrorist act' committed by the 'illegitimate regime in Kiev,' which he said 'is gradually turning into a terrorist organization.' According to top foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov, Putin informed Trump that all these attacks were intended to derail direct talks between Moscow and Kiev – the second round of which took place in Istanbul on Monday. The two leaders agreed to continue contacts on Ukraine, both at the highest level and through other channels. Trump described the phone call as 'a good conversation,' though he noted it was 'not the one that will lead to immediate peace.'
Russia Today
4 hours ago
- Russia Today
Kiev regime ‘not interested in peace,' turning to terror, suffering ‘huge losses' on battlefield: Key points from Putin's speech
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine's leadership of carrying out terrorist attacks on Russian territory in order to derail peace efforts, which he said threaten the Kiev regime's grip on power. Speaking at a government meeting on Wednesday, Putin said the recent sabotage of railway infrastructure in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk Regions was a deliberate strike on civilians intended to disrupt the negotiations. Kiev's backers have become 'accomplices to terrorists' Putin said the attacks were the result of decisions made by Ukraine's top political leadership, calling them 'undoubtedly a terrorist act.' 'This only confirms our concern that the already illegitimate regime in Kiev, which once seized power, is gradually turning into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices to terrorists,' he said. The two incidents occurred on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. In Bryansk Region, a bridge collapsed in front of a moving passenger train. In Kursk Region, a freight train derailed when a railway bridge gave way. In total, seven people died and over 120 were injured. 'Under all international norms, such actions are called terrorism,' Putin said. Ukraine's battlefield losses The Russian president accused Kiev and its Western backers of previously aiming to inflict a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield. Now, he said, the country's leadership is shifting tactics amid mounting losses and as Ukrainian forces retreat along the front line. 'Today, amid heavy losses and retreating along the entire line of contact, the Kiev leadership has turned to organizing terrorist acts in an attempt to intimidate Russia,' Putin said. He questioned the competence of Ukraine's leadership, under whose orders the Ukrainian armed forces have suffered 'senseless and enormous losses' – including during their now-repulsed incursion in Kursk Region – and continue to face defeat on the battlefield. 'What kind of authority can the leaders of a thoroughly rotten and completely corrupt regime possess?' Putin added. Deliberate strikes to disrupt talks Putin called Kiev's railway sabotage an 'intentional strike on the [Russian] civilian population.' He said the 'crimes' committed against Russian civilians – including women and children – were timed to disrupt the peace process. Both attacks came shortly before the second round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul and amid a surge in Kiev's drone raids into Russia, which Moscow says are aimed at derailing attempts to reach a settlement in the conflict. Speaking about Kiev's apparent attempts to undermine the peace efforts, Putin noted that Ukrainian officials simultaneously requested a ceasefire lasting 30 to 60 days, along with a top-level meeting. 'But how can such meetings be held under these conditions?' he said. 'What is there to talk about? Who conducts negotiations with those who rely on terror – with terrorists?' He warned that any pause would only allow the Ukrainian forces to regroup, receive more Western arms, and prepare for renewed hostilities. Kiev regime not interested in peace Ukraine has repeatedly rejected Russia's proposals for a short-term ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, Putin said. 'It does not surprise us and only convinces us further that today's Kiev regime does not want peace at all,' he stated. 'For them, peace most likely means a loss of power.' Putin emphasized that 'power, for the [Kiev] regime, is apparently more important than peace, more important than human lives.' Kiev's lack of political culture Putin also accused the Ukrainian leadership of lacking basic political culture, pointing to recent public remarks. This week, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky referred to Russia's negotiators as 'idiots' after Moscow proposed a brief truce to recover fallen soldiers' bodies. 'Apparently, we are dealing with people who not only have no real competence in anything but also lack even a basic political culture if they allow themselves to make certain statements – including direct insults – against those they claim to want to negotiate with,' Putin said.
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Russia Today
Zelensky dismisses Russia's peace memorandum
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has refused to seriously consider Russia's latest peace proposal, dismissing it as an unacceptable 'ultimatum'. Russian and Ukrainian delegations exchanged their respective roadmaps for peace at their second meeting in a month, in Istanbul on Monday. In its proposal, Moscow proposed that Ukraine recognizes the loss of five of its former regions that joined Russia in public referendums, withdraws its forces from them, commit to neutrality, and limit its own military capabilities. Russia also floated a 'package proposal' for a ceasefire, in which Kiev would halt deploying its troops, suspend mobilisation, stop foreign weapons shipments, and hold a presidential election. Zelensky rejected the peace memorandum out of hand. 'This is an ultimatum, and it will not be taken seriously by the Ukrainian side… This memorandum is a misunderstanding,' he said on Wednesday. The Ukrainian leader claimed that any territorial concessions to Russia would contravene Ukraine's constitution. Russia's lead negotiator at the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, defended the memorandum, describing it as an opportunity to end the conflict. 'This is not an ultimatum. It's a proposal that will truly allow for achieving real peace — or at least a ceasefire — and make a huge step towards achieving long-term peace,' he said. Zelensky also criticized the diplomatic process itself, saying, 'To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that decides nothing — it's meaningless.' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, however, suggested that Zelensky dismissed the outcome of the talks because they were focused not on financial aid or weapons supplies, but on people. Zakharova was referring to Moscow and Kiev's agreement to carry the largest prisoner exchange to date, which is expected to take place this weekend and involved 1,200 people on each side.
