Trump considering large-scale sanctions on Russia

US President Donald Trump on Friday stated that he is “strongly considering large-scale sanctions” on Russia.

The new sanctions and tariff are likely to continue until a ceasefire and peace deal with Ukraine is reached.

According to Trump, the move is under consideration because “Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now”.

His comments marked sharp change in tone.

Since assuming the office again, Trump has been in good terms when it comes to Russia, as he often praised President Vladimir Putin and blamed Ukraine’s leader for not wanting peace with Russia.

Hours later, however, the US president told reporters he was “finding it more difficult to deal with Ukraine”, and repeated that he trusted Putin.

Last Friday, Trump was engaged in a verbal spat with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Days earlier, he had even called him a dictator and blamed Ukraine for starting war which broke on February 24, 2022.

Most recently, Trump administration paused US military and intelligence aid with Kyiv.

It is not clear if this enabled Russia’s large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Thursday night.

However, on Friday, the President threaten to impose sanctions tariffs against Russia – apparently over the attack.

“They [Russia] are bombing the hell out of them [Ukraine] right now… and I put a statement out, a very strong statement ‘can’t do that, can’t do that’,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday.

Asked if that was a result of the US pause in military co-operation with Ukraine, Trump said Putin was doing “what anyone else would do”.

And he justified the US move by saying: “I want to know they [Ukraine] want to settle and I don’t know they want to settle.”