US President Donald Trump warned Russia of "very severe" repercussions if it doesn't stop its current war in Ukraine. Addressing reporters at the Kennedy Centre on Wednesday, Trump stated that Russia would be punished if it does not accept a ceasefire after he meets President Vladimir Putin in Alaska soon.
Asked whether Russia would have actions taken against it, Trump responded, "yes, they will," and said these might be things like tariffs and sanctions. "I don't have to say. There will be severe consequences," he underlined.
Trump's comments precede his planned summit with Putin on August 15. He also suggested he'd offer to schedule a second summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. If the first one goes well, we'll have a very fast second one. I would like to do it virtually right now, and we'll have a fast second meeting between President Putin, and President Zelensky and me, if they would like to have me present," Trump stated. He added, though, that the second meeting would not go forward unless he gets satisfactory responses.
These remarks come after a virtual meeting with European leaders, where French President Emmanuel Macron said that Trump is focusing on a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. In the meantime, Zelensky cautioned that Putin "is bluffing" before the summit with Trump and accused the Russian president of trying to put pressure "on all sectors of the Ukrainian front" in order to present the impression that Russia could "occupy all of Ukraine."
The Trump-Putin summit will be held on Friday, August 15, at an Alaskan military base. In a report by AP, a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the meeting is going to take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, which was the prime location during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union.
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