Donald Trump has warned that if Vladimir Putin rejects the truce with Ukraine, he could face “very bad” consequences.
Yesterday, March 11, the United States lifted its suspension of military assistance for Kyiv while Russia considers the new plan.
Trump, however, appears to be threatening Putin with dire repercussions if he rejects it.
In light of the US president’s stated desire to put an end to the conflict, Ukrainian officials have indicated that they are amenable to a 30-day ceasefire supported by Washington.
He reiterated that the three years of conflict could result in World War III while talking about the administration’s attempts to terminate it.
In a statement, Trump criticized past presidents for their handling of Moscow and expressed his hope that “it is not going to be necessary” for him to take action to coerce Russia into the ceasefire.
“I never lost anything to them. They stole from a drowsy Joe Biden, as well as from Obama and Bush. “They wanted to take the entire country with Biden, but I think I’ve stopped that, but we’ll see,” the president stated in reference to his own past interactions.
However, Trump responded that “there are things you can do that wouldn’t be pleasant in a financial sense” if necessary when reporters questioned him about how he could negotiate a deal with Russia.
“We may cause Russia great harm. It would be disastrous for Russia. However, he continued, “I want to see peace, so I don’t want to do that.”
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, it’s crucial to avoid “getting ahead” of the issue of how to react to the latest ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is waiting for “detailed information” from the United States and that Russia should wait for that before making a decision.
The US’s military aid suspension, which has since been lifted, followed a contentious meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the White House. As the world watched as tensions increased, the American told Zelenskyy that he was “gambling with World War III.”
The United States made a dramatic change in its position on Tuesday when it decided to restore its aid following discussions with top Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s up to Russia now,” Trump added, as his administration puts pressure on Moscow to accept the truce.
He spoke to reporters for a long time today while meeting with Ireland’s Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, at the Oval Office. “And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia,” he remarked.
“And if we do, I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath ended.”
