Trump urges Russia to end war in Ukraine

Russia could do things the easy way or the hard way, Trump said Wednesday in a statement threatening taxes, tariffs, and sanctions if Russia didn’t make a deal to end the war. Trump said he loved the Russian people and enjoyed a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also recalled Russia’s assistance to the United States and its Allies with toppling Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich in World War II.

In the spirit of Russo-U.S. companionship, Trump said he was calling on Russia to make a deal before the United States imposed economic penalties. Trump described the offer as a big favor to Putin and the rest of Russia—a country with an already failing economy, he said. He warned that if Putin didn’t agree to end the war in Ukraine, things would only get worse for Russia.

Has Putin responded? The Kremlin did not immediately issue a public response to Trump’s statement. But Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday issued a statement summarizing talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kyrgyz Republic Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev in which it discussed the conflict. The war would only end if Russia removed the conflict’s fundamental causes, the statement said. It was necessary to put in place a legally binding agreement that allowed Russia to achieve the objectives it set out to achieve with its military operations, the foreign ministry said.

Dig deeper: Read R. Albert Mohler Jr.’s column in WORLD Opinions about how it’s President Donald Trump’s world now.