President Trump said Wednesday that it’s all up to Russia now when it comes to ending the Russia–Ukraine war.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office with the Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Mr. Trump said the U.S. has “had a good relationship with both parties,” but it’s up to Russia to accept a proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has accepted in principle.
He said U.S. officials “are going to Russia right now as we speak.”
“Hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia,” he said. “And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished.”
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.
Asked if he expects Mr. Putin would maintain a ceasefire with Ukraine, Mr. Trump reiterated that “we haven’t spoken to him yet, with substance, because we just found out and we just were able to get Ukraine to agree.”
“We’re going to know very soon. I’ve gotten some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing,” he said.
Mr. Trump also said there are measures that could be taken to get Russia to comply, seeming to suggest sanctions.
“There are things you could do that wouldn’t be pleasant, in the financial sense. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace, I want to see peace,” he said.
Officials from the U.S. and Ukraine reached an agreement for a 30-day ceasefire Tuesday while in Saudi Arabia. Part of the deal included restarting U.S. aid and intelligence for Ukraine.
