Trump Threatens to Sanction Moscow
Trump Threatens to Sanction Moscow
But the U.S. president stopped short of denouncing Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Rescuers and police work at a site of a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 7. Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Moscow on Friday with sanctions and tariffs in a bid to force both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war to come to the negotiating table. “Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The “pounding” in question refers to a massive missile and drone attack that Russia launched overnight on Friday targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Moscow fired 67 missiles from the air, land, and sea as well as 194 strike and decoy drones across the country, injuring at least 10 people.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Moscow on Friday with sanctions and tariffs in a bid to force both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war to come to the negotiating table. “Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The “pounding” in question refers to a massive missile and drone attack that Russia launched overnight on Friday targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Moscow fired 67 missiles from the air, land, and sea as well as 194 strike and decoy drones across the country, injuring at least 10 people.
Trump has so far refrained from applying any additional significant financial or military pressure on Russia, in what the U.S. president and his allies portray as an attempt to bring Moscow to the negotiating table with Kyiv. Conversely, Trump has put significant pressure on Ukraine, including by pausing U.S. military aid and intelligence-sharing as well as publicly feuding with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and calling him a “dictator.”
Trump’s post taking a more aggressive tone toward Russia was thus seen as a welcome change by some Ukraine supporters, though the president’s comments later Friday somewhat dampened that sentiment.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he still believes that Putin wants peace, adding, “I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.” Asked if he thinks Putin is taking advantage of the U.S. pause on military and intelligence aid to Ukraine to attack the country, Trump said, “No, I actually think he’s doing what anybody else would do.”
Read more in today’s World Brief: Trump Threatens Russia With Sanctions Over Recent Ukraine Attack.
This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage of the Trump administration. Follow along here.
Alexandra Sharp is the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy. X: @AlexandraSSharp
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