The measures advocated by the EU could make the chances of settling the Ukraine conflict “much worse,” the US president has said
The US does not want to impose further sanctions on Russia “because there’s a chance” of progress towards a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, President Donald Trump said on Monday.
The remarks followed a two-hour phone conversation earlier in the day with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a post on Truth Social following the call, Trump wrote that the tone and spirit of the conversation were “excellent.” Putin described the discussion as “very useful.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House shortly after the call, Trump suggested that he is opposed to ramping up the sanctions on Russia.
“Because I think there’s a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you could also make it much worse,” the president said in the Oval Office, according to CNN. “But there could be a time where that’s going to happen,” he added.
Trump also stated that immediately after his call with the Russian president, he relayed the details of their conversation to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, along with the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, and the European Commission.
According to the Financial Times, EU leaders were “stunned” by Trump’s portrayal of what had been agreed to during the conversation. A source familiar with the call told the outlet it is evident that the US president is “not ready to put greater pressure” on Putin.
The EU is pushing to dramatically tighten the sanctions in order to compel Putin to end the Ukraine conflict.
EU ambassadors approved the 17th package of sanctions against Russia last week, targeting nearly 200 oil tankers that the West claims are part of a Russian ‘shadow fleet’.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the US and EU must “go further” and impose “devastating sanctions” to “suffocate” the Russian economy “once and for all.”
The push has been encouraged by US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who proposed what he called “bone-crushing” sanctions, including 500% tariffs on exports from Russia if it resists peace talks.
Russia remains committed to seeking a long-term solution to the Ukraine conflict but will not tolerate being addressed in the “language of ultimatums,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week. He has also stated that Russia is accustomed to Western pressure and is not concerned about new sanctions.
