President Donald Trump is reportedly considering new sanctions against Russia as President Vladimir Putin appears to be stalling Ukraine peace negotiations, people familiar with Trump’s thinking told The Wall Street Journal.
Trump has expressed growing frustration with Putin as the Kremlin continues to pound Ukraine with attacks despite efforts from the U.S. to broker peace, and the president is reportedly thinking about using more economic measures to pressure Russia, an unknown number of sources told the WSJ. Russia, despite multiple attempts by the U.S. to broker a peace deal, has continued its slow offensive into Ukrainian territory and launched a massive wave of drone and missile attacks over the weekend.
“This war is Joe Biden’s fault, and President Trump has been clear he wants to see a negotiated peace deal,” Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “President Trump has also smartly kept all options on the table.”
Trump called Putin on May 19 to renew peace talks, saying at the time that negotiations to bring about an “END to the war” were imminent.
Ukraine and the U.S. have been met with relative silence from Moscow amid Trump’s push to reach a ceasefire deal. Kiev and Washington have agreed to multiple economic and military deals strengthening their relationship.
European officials recently coordinated to convince Trump of the efficacy of sanctions, even though the Biden administration’s sanctions regime ultimately failed to stop Russian aggression. Some observers have argued that sanctions may have ultimately strengthened Russia’s position by making it less reliant on Western trade.
For example, Russia blunted the West’s attempt to cut off its oil industry with sanctions by selling large volumes of oil to India and China at discounted rates, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Argus Media data. As a result, Russian oil profits in 2024 were 50% greater than they were in 2023, according to Reuters.
The war has raged on for three years, taking tens of thousands of lives on both sides while the frontlines have remained relatively stagnant since the initial Russian invasion in 2022. In addition to his impatience with the Kremlin, Trump has also criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying in a May 17 interview with Fox News that the Ukrainian leader had “pissed away” U.S. aid.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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