President Donald Trump has warned that he is prepared to impose fresh economic sanctions on Moscow following a wave of Russian strikes that have escalated the war in Ukraine.
Russia launched the biggest attack of the war on Sunday, which included over 800 drones and the striking of the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv for the first time, per CNN.
Speaking from the White House about the attacks, Trump confirmed that additional sanctions are being considered in response to the attack.
The President added that he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin “over the next couple of days” in hopes of finding common ground, saying that he is “going to get it done” when referencing a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
“I am not thrilled with what’s happening there,” Trump added, per Fox News. “I believe we’re going to get it settled. But I am not happy with them. I’m not happy with anything having to do with that war.”
Russia has already acknowledged the threats made by Trump and claimed that any additional sanctions would have little effect on the country.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Putin, said similar sanctions have “proven absolutely useless in terms of putting pressure on Russia” in the past, noting that any additional penalties would likely have the same impact.
“Overall, one thing can probably be said: This unprecedented number of sanctions that have been imposed on our country over the past—well, it’s already almost four years, now four years—have had no effect whatsoever,” Peskov added, per Newsweek.
This back-and-forth comes following months of Trump claiming that Russia and Ukraine were nearing an agreement to end the war, with the President recently meeting with Putin to discuss potential peace.
Although the Alaska Summit ended without a peace deal, Trump left the event saying that the two sides “made some headway” and there is potential for more to come, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed back on this narrative, recently claiming that Trump “gave Putin what he wanted.”
“Putin doesn’t want to meet with me, but he wants very much to meet with the President of the United States, to show everybody video and images that he is there,” Zelenskyy said, per ABC News.