Trump warns of "large-scale" sanctions against Russia amid intensifying assaults on Ukraine

US President Donald Trump has threatened Russia with imposing additional “large scale” sanctions and tariffs, seen as an attempt to administer pressure on Moscow to broker a peace deal in Ukraine.

This comes forward from a statement he shared on his official Truth Social account, Caliber.Az reports.

Responding to the recent Russian attacks on Ukraine which experts have identified as one of the hardest since the beginning of escalations in 2022, Trump wrote: "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. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late."

His comments come as tensions have eased with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following a disastrous public feud in the White House last week. An agreement on the extraction of Ukrainian minerals by US private companies was not signed back then, which Washington acknowledged as Kyiv not being ready to pursue peace.

The White House subsequently paused all military and intelligence aid to Ukraine. Since then, Zelenskyy has publicly declared his willingness to sign the minerals deal and as media outlets report, US and Ukrainian officials are due to meet next week in Saudi Arabia for talks.

By Nazrin Sadigova