Trump weighs Russia sanctions, arms for Ukraine amid tensions
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will likely impose additional sanctions on Russia. He also mentioned that he is considering whether to continue sending arms to Ukraine and added that he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin whenever the Russian president wishes.
- Sounds likely - said Donald Trump, in response to the question of whether he intends to impose additional sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin refuses to negotiate ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump comments on the war in Ukraine
Asked about further military support for Ukraine, Trump replied that he is "looking into it."
- We are talking to Zelensky, we will soon talk with President Putin and see how it goes - he announced. He stated that although the President of Ukraine "strongly" declares that he is ready to negotiate, he is not sure if the same can be said about Putin. He added, however, that Russia should be interested in peace, as it is suffering heavy losses. He mentioned the number of 800,000 soldiers (on Monday he spoke about one million) and 600,000-700,000 on the Ukrainian side (on Monday he spoke of 600,000).
Trump once again said that the USA has spent too much on aid to Ukraine compared to Europe, claiming - inconsistently with available data - that it has spent $200 billion more for this purpose. He again stated that the benchmark for NATO countries' defence spending should be not 2 percent of GDP, but 5 percent. He mentioned Poland as one of the few countries that during his term spent more than the required 2 percent.
The new president also said that he talked about the war in Ukraine during a recent phone conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Will the USA impose tariffs on other countries? Trump does not change his mind
"I told him, you should end this. Because he hasn't done much about it," - Trump recounted.
Trump reiterated his threats of imposing tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, adding that he intends to do so on February 1st. As he pointed out - denying reports from the "Wall Street Journal" on this topic - that this threat has nothing to do with his intention to renegotiate the USMCA (USA, Mexico, Canada) trade agreement but relates to illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling.
In this context, Trump again criticized the European Union, which he believes treats America "very badly."
