Vladimir Putin has just a few more days before Donald Trump’s threatened new sanctions take hold – with one insider warning he could be driven ‘ballistic’ without progress
Donald Trump will “go ballistic” if his representatives are sent home from a meeting with Vladimir Putin with nothing, a source has claimed.
The US President, 79, had promised to end the war in Ukraine on “day one” of his second term in office, but, now seven months in, has failed to make any progress. After appearing to cosy up to the Russian despot, Mr Trump has changed tack and threatened Vladimir Putin with hefty new sanctions should he fail to broker a deal this week.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow to hammer out an agreement – as insiders warn progress is vital to ensuring the President doesn’t “go ballistic”. It comes after Donald Trump’s mental state ‘clear to see’ as lawmakers urged to ‘act now’
READ MORE: NATO state Romania forced to scramble F-16 war planes due to Putin drone strikeREAD MORE: Russia vows ‘no limits’ on nuke missiles in chilling threat to West as tensions rise
As Mr Witkoff was seen walking in Moscow’s Zaryadye Park alongside top Putin official Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a source close to the Trump administration warned what could happen if he returns empty-handed. They told the Financial Times: “If Witkoff comes back empty-handed, with absolutely nothing, Trump is going to go ballistic.”
Mr Trump has only briefly commented on the coming meeting, saying on Tuesday that his administration would “see what happens” on Mr Witkoff’s arrival. He said in a brief statement: “We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We’re going to see what happens.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov came forward with a similarly brief response, saying the regime is “always glad” to see him in the Russian capital. He said: “We are always glad to see Mr Witkoff in Moscow. We view such contacts as important, substantive and very useful.”
Mr Trump had previously signalled that the coming meeting was set up at the request of Putin officials, which claims to still be interested in ending the war in Ukraine.
However, recent explosive attacks on the country have cast doubt on those reported aims, with NATO member Romania forced to deploy jets on Tuesday following a blistering attack on Ukraine. The attack on the Orlivka plant destroyed lines that bring vital gas supplies from Ukraine into Romania, Greece and Turkey.
The gigantic fireball caused by the attack could be seen across the Danube River, with amber flames seen reflecting off its surface in dramatic photos.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense scrambled two F-16 warplanes after the attack was tracked on their radars, with people evacuated from Romanian border towns, and fiercely condemned the “aggressive and unjustified actions of the Russian Federation”. Should there be no further progress this week, the US has hinted at extracting additional Russian sanctions.
Potential actions could be taken against Putin’s shadow fleet of vessels used to circumvent sanctions and supply Russian oil, or through tough tariff action against India and possibly China which continue trading in Russian oil. Mr Trump has set a Friday deadline before any potential action is taken against Putin’s regime.