President Trump said Sunday he’s ready to move forward with the second phase of sanctions against Russia amid stalled peace talks to end the war with Ukraine.
“Yeah, I am,” Trump told a reporter, who asked whether he’s ready to move forward with Phase 2 of the sanctions.
Trump has bristled at the suggestion he has not taken action against Russia, which has continued to bombard Ukraine with drone strikes amid efforts by Trump and others to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Asked on Wednesday why he’s not taken action against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump objected to the premise, pointing to the tariffs he imposed on India over its purchase of Russian oil, and he suggested that step was merely the first phase.
“How do you know there’s no action? Would you say that putting secondary sanctions on India — the largest purchaser outside of China, they’re almost equal — would you say there’s no action?” Trump said, referring to the additional 25 percent tariffs placed on India for purchases of Russian oil.
“That cost hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia. You call that no action? And I haven’t done Phase 2 yet or Phase 3,” the president added.
The move toward additional sanctions on Russia comes as progress has appeared to stall on efforts to broker a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe. The president has sought to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but there has been little progress on getting the two leaders together.
