US President Donald Trump said that he does not rule out the possibility of introducing secondary sanctions against Russia if its leader Vladimir Putin «doesn’t do his job». At the same time, he expressed confidence that the Kremlin will fulfill its part of the agreements, informs CNN.
In response to a question about the potential increase in sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, Trump said:
«I want him (Putin) to make a deal so that we stop killing Russian soldiers, Ukrainian soldiers and other people. I don’t want to put secondary tariffs against his oil, but I think I would if I thought he (Putin) wasn’t doing his job.»
Trump emphasized that he expects the Russian side to fulfill its obligations, but noted that Ukraine must also fulfill its part. In particular, he commented on the situation surrounding the agreement on rare earth minerals, noting that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy «is trying to revise the agreement on rare earth minerals», without mentioning that the USA proposed a different format of agreements at the last moment.
He again stated that the United States allocated $350 billion to Ukraine, while Europe — only $100 billion, which, according to Trump, «is trying to return.» In his opinion, the new «mineral» agreement with Ukraine will enable the US to compensate for costs.
In his speech, Trump also commented on the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO, saying that he sees it as impossible and added:
«This was obviously the reason for the start of the war.»
At the same time, the US State Department noted that Trump did not support Vladimir Putin’s idea of introducing a temporary administration on the territory of Ukraine under the auspices of the UN and a number of countries.
