Trump suggests Russia could face more sanctions if Putin doesn't negotiate peace with Ukraine
The president also said the Russian leader is ruining his country by leading it into an unnecessary war.

Trump and Putin in a file image
President Donald Trump, who took office again just yesterday, spared no effort in his first hours in office, signing dozens of executive orders and holding several press conferences to announce measures and send threats to U.S. political adversaries, including Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Particularly, when asked by the press how he would go about re-establishing peace in Europe and ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Trump suggested that the Russian nation could face more sanctions if Putin does not negotiate peace with Ukraine.
"You called for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The plan for Putin doesn't come to the table to negotiate with you. Will you put additional sanctions on Russia?" a reporter asked Trump.
"Sounds likely," the president immediately replied.
REPORTER: "You called for a ceasefire in Ukraine. If Putin doesn't come to the table to negotiate with you, will you put additional sanctions on Russia?
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 21, 2025
PRES. TRUMP: "Sounds likely."
REPORTER: "And do you think the war should be frozen..."
PRES. TRUMP: "The war should have… pic.twitter.com/lDMbLh0iNi
The reporter then asked Trump if he thinks the Russia-Ukraine war should stop.
"The war should have never started," Trump said. "If you had a competent president, which you didn't, the war wouldn't have happened. The war in Ukraine would have never happened if I were president. But that couldn't happen because the election was rigged."
Trump's remarks come after Putin praised his "courage" during the campaign and his unequivocal victory in November.
Despite Putin's praise, Trump has not returned the favor, harshly criticizing the Russian leader before the press after assuming the presidency again.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed Putin is ruining his country by leading it into an unnecessary war.
“He can’t be thrilled, he’s not doing so well,” Trump said Monday night referring to the Putin-initiated war. “Russia is bigger, they have more soldiers to lose, but that’s no way to run a country.”
Despite Trump's harsh comments toward Russia, Russian officials have said publicly that they are ready to resume contacts and negotiations with Washington.
"We are ready and open for dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukraine conflict," Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Tuesday. "If the relevant signals come in from Washington, then we’ll pick them up and will be ready to hold negotiations."
Also, both Putin and Trump have said publicly that they have calls pending very "soon," which could be the start of long talks to plan an end to the bloody and complicated war between Russia and Ukraine.