Trump Issues Threat Of Sanctions, Tariffs On Russia

President Donald Trump said he is “strongly considering” issuing large-scale sanctions and tariffs on Russia to get a ceasefire and settlement deal on the table to end the war in Ukraine.

In a Friday post on Truth Social, Trump put pressure on the country that so far has faced little public pushback from his administration. Trump and his allies have declined to throw the blame on Russia for starting the war in Ukraine — and said he has a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump wrote.

Global leaders across Europe have grown concerned over the U.S. aligning with the Kremlin. Just last week, Trump had a public blowup with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, and has since cut off some U.S. aid to the Eastern European country.

Russian forces launched a massive salvo of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure early on Friday, the first attack since U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine stopped. Zelenskyy reacted with a stern message to Russia.

"The first steps to establishing real peace should be forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

The threat of sanctions comes as senior Trump administration officials, including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are planning to meet with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia next week.

Ending the war in Ukraine has been one of Trump’s main foreign policy focuses since taking office — but the pressure campaign has been firmly on Zelenskyy. Trump has called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” and falsely suggested that Ukraine was the aggressor in the war Russia started.

Trump later seemingly recanted his comments on the Ukrainian leader, just before meeting with him to sign a rare earths mineral deal that would share economic profits between Ukraine and the U.S.

But that disastrous Oval Office meeting broke down negotiations, leaving the minerals deal unsigned. Zelenskyy since reiterated his desire for peace and that he is “ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” in a Tuesday post on X.

In Tuesday's address to the joint Congress, Trump softened his rhetoric toward the Ukrainian wartime leader, reading Zelenskyy’s “important letter” expressing gratitude and pushing to restart negotiations.

Still, Trump cut off military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine this week, prompting world leaders in Europe to hold an emergency summit in Brussels on providing military security to Ukraine.

Trump’s new threats against Russia are also a day after he questioned U.S. commitments to NATO. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he would reconsider defending NATO allies if they didn’t spend enough on their own militaries.

“Well, I think it’s common sense,” Trump said. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.”