Donald Trump spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn after imposing a 50-day ultimatum on Vladimir Putin – and explained what would happen if it is not met
Donald Trump has said it will be ‘too bad’ if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The US president spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn on Tuesday afternoon, the day after he threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” of up to 100% on Moscow if they fail to sign a deal within the next 50 days. Despite his infamous bust-up with Zelensky in the Oval Office in the first weeks of his second term, Trump has in recent days signalled a surprising change in his position on the war, with his country now set to send a cache of “top-of-the-line” Patriot missiles to Kyiv via its allies in Europe.
He’s also appeared to toughen his rhetoric on the Russian president, claiming earlier this week that he was “disappointed” in Putin. On Tuesday, he repeated his threat to impose tariffs on sanctions on Russia if they fail to meet the 50-day ultimatum.
Asked by one reporter what he repercussions would be for Moscow if they do not come to an agreement with Ukraine, Trump said: “Well at the end of 50 days if we don’t have a deal, it’s going to be too bad.”
“The tariffs are going to go on and other sanctions going to go on,” he added when asked what the future of Russian relations looked like if Putin did not agree to end his war. He was also pressed on whether he had now switched sympathies in favour of Ukraine, after previously appearing reluctant to criticise Russia, and replied: “No, I’m on nobodies side.
“You know whose side I’m on? Humanity’s side, I want to stop the killing of thousands of people a week. I want to stop the killing. I want the killing to stop in the Ukraine-Russia war, that’s the side I’m on.”
The President went on to say: “We’re going to see what happens with President Putin. So far I’ve been very disappointed with President Putin. I’ve solved a lot of wars in the last three months, but I haven’t got this one yet. This is a Biden war, it’s not a Trump war, I’m here to try and get us out of that mess.”
But Trump appeared to downplay reports that he could soon supply Ukraine with more long-range weaponry, allowing it to strike directly on Moscow. Some in Ukraine and the US have said the move could help push Putin towards negotiations to end the fighting.
Asked if he intended to supply Ukraine with weapons that could reach deeper into Russian territory, Trump replied: “We’re not looking to do that.”
Trump made the remarks to reporters before departing the White House for an energy investment event in Pittsburgh.