Trump on sanctions against Russia: "I don’t want to do that to it. I love Russians"
US President Donald Trump has again threatened to impose secondary sanctions on Russia, although he says he "doesn't want to do that to Russia" and "loves the Russian people." At the same time, he is no longer interested in talking to Putin.
He said this at a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Sky News and The Guardian quoted him as saying, Censor.NET reported.
Trump specified his new deadline of "about 10 or 12 days" for Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Otherwise, there will be sanctions.
"I will announce it (officially) probably tonight or tomorrow, there is no reason to wait. It will be sanctions and possibly tariffs, secondary tariffs," he says.
But the US president adds: "I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people, they are wonderful people."
Trump described Russia's war against Ukraine as "a very bloody war" and said that a peace deal would be "common sense."
"I think something will happen eventually. It has to happen quickly, because so many people are dying. 7,000 Ukrainians and Russians are dying every week," he emphasized.
Asked whether he believes that Russian dictator Putin lied to him about his commitment to a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump said he would not say "lied," but there were times when they had a good conversation and he thought Putin might agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, but then nothing happened.
"I have always gotten along well with Putin. I had a great relationship with him. He also went through Russia First, and we often talked about it. Listen, I was tough on Putin because I was the one who closed Nord Stream, and then Biden came in and opened it. I was very tough on Putin, but we got along very well. I talked to him and it looked like we were on the way (to peace - ed.). And then he said: "Forget about it". And I'm not going to talk anymore. You know, this has happened too many times, and I don't like it. I don't like it at all," the US president added.
