
Trump warns Putin of 'devastating' financial impacts if Russia blocks Ukraine ceasefire
Washington/IBNS: US President Donald Trump has warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of "devastating" financial consequences if his government blocks Ukraine's call for a ceasefire in the Moscow-Kyiv war, media reports said.
Speaking at the White House, Trump on Wednesday said, "People are going to Russia right now as we speak and hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia and if we do, I think that would be 80 percent of the way to get this horrible blood bath finished."
Trump has warned Russia of economic sanctions if Putin continues with military offensive.
"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... But in a financial sense, we can do things very bad for Russia.
"It would be devastating for Russia but I don't want to do that because I want to see peace and we're getting close to maybe getting something done..," said the President.
Ukraine on Tuesday agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day general ceasefire with Russia, with Washington in turn promising to lift restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing, a joint statement by the two sides said.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia, the two sides agreed to conclude "as soon as possible" a deal on Ukrainian minerals, the statement said.
"Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," a joint statement said after the talks.
"The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace," it added.
"The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine."
Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire days after the country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was publicly berated by Trump after the two along with US Vice President JD Vance were engaged in a heated argument over the war in the course of a press conference at the Oval Office in the White House.
Zelenskyy was in the White House to sign an economic deal with the Trump administration giving the US an access to the minerals in Ukraine.
But minutes into the meeting at the White House, Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskyy broke into a verbal spat.
While Vance accused Zelenskyy of being "disrespectful", Trump said he is "gambling with World War Three".
President Zelenskyy responded in an equal measure, saying, "We are in our own country, and we have stayed strong all this time. We have even thanked you for it (your support)".
When he was asked about whether Zelenskyy will be invited to the Oval Office again, Trump said on Tuesday, "Sure, absolutely."
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