President Donald Trump warned Friday that Russia “has to get moving” with peace talks amid the U.S envoy’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Too many people ere DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social. “A war that should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if I were President!!!”
Trump’s post comes amid Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s arrival in Russia after weeks of stalled peace talks with Ukraine. This meeting is Witkoff’s third attempt to negotiate on behalf of the president, according to the New York Post. He is the first top official to meet with Russian officials since the war broke out on Feb. 24, 2022, the Post noted.
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Other Trump officials have met with Ukrainian and Russian officials separately in previous weeks in Saudi Arabia in hopes of finding peace, the outlet reported. Since then, a semi-cease-fire agreement was established on energy infrastructure. However, Russia continued its attacks, firing missiles into Ukraine.
Putin also issued a directive to enlist an additional 160,000 men before June.
Trump warned in March of “devastating” financial consequences if Russia rejected the 30-day ceasefire, the Tampa Free Press previously reported. Trump has considered “large-scale banking sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs” on Russia.
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On March 30, Trump told NBC News he was “very angry” and “pissed off” at Putin amid the Russian president’s criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership.
Trump said Putin’s comments were “not going in the right location.”
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said in the NBC interview.
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