Trump threatens Russia with more sanctions if Ukraine war doesn’t end

Donald Trump has threatened Russia with tariff hikes and more sanctions if Moscow does not agree with a Ukraine ceasefire deal.

"If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries," the newly-elected US president said in a post on his Social Truth social network.

He did not identify the countries that he deemed participants in the conflict.

Trump said he was "not looking to hurt Russia" and had "always had a very good relationship with President Putin," a leader for whom he has expressed admiration in the past.

"All of that being said, I'm going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE."

Before his inauguration on Monday, Trump had vowed to end the Ukraine war before even taking office, raising expectations he would leverage aid to force Kiev to make concessions to Moscow.

In unusually critical remarks of Putin on Monday, Trump said the Russian president was "destroying Russia by not making a deal."

Trump said Zelensky had told him he wanted a peace agreement to end the war.

The US president has declined to say whether he would continue his predecessor Joe Biden's policy of sending weapons to Ukraine to fight off Russia's invasion, launched in February 2022.

A day after inauguration, Trump threatens to hit EU with tariffs, takes aim at China

Trump reiterates his stance by pledging to hit the EU with tariffs, while stating that a 10 percent duty on Chinese imports could be implemented as soon as February 1.

"We're looking at that," he said at the press conference. "We're talking to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky, we're going to be talking to President Putin very soon."

Trump has sought to use the threat of tariffs to achieve non-trade goals, including threatening Mexico, Canada, and China with duties to push them to stop illegal migration and the flow of the opioid fentanyl into the United States.

The Biden administration had already heaped heavy sanctions on thousands of entities in Russia's banking, defense, manufacturing, energy, technology, and other sectors since the conflict began in February 2022.

Earlier this month, the US Treasury hit Russia's energy revenues with its hardest sanctions yet, targeting oil and gas producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that are part of the so-called dark fleet of tankers aimed at evading other Western trade curbs.

As for other participants, the Biden administration had imposed sanctions against entities in China, North Korea, and Iran for alleged support for Russia's military operations against Ukraine.

Trump a ‘challenge’ to Germany

Also on Wednesday, the leaders of France and Germany agreed that both countries must act for a "strong" Europe, President Emmanuel Macron said after meeting Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris.

At a joint news briefing with Macron at the Elysee two days after Trump took office, Scholz said the new US president "will be, and so much is already clear, a challenge".

"Europe will not cower and hide, but instead be a constructive and assertive partner."

This stance, Scholz said, will be "the basis for good cooperation with the new American president".

Europe and the US are linked by "a long history of friendship and partnership" which he called "a stable foundation" for future relations, he added.

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