“There’s no reason in waiting, there’s no reason in waiting,” he said in Scotland.
The president has repeatedly expressed frustration that the Russian leader would make claims about peace in their private conversations but continue bombing Ukraine at night.
“Russia could be so rich, instead they spend all their money on war,” Trump said at the appearance with Starmer. “I thought he’d want to end this thing quickly, but every time I think it’s going to end, he kills people.”
The White House threats include potential secondary tariffs on China and India, which continue to buy Russian oil.
It was not clear what Russia might offer to Witkoff in order to avoid further economic pressure from the US.
Bloomberg and independent Russian news outlet The Bell reported that the Kremlin might propose a moratorium on air strikes by Russia and Ukraine – an idea that was mentioned last week by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian missiles and drones continued to attack targets overnight, including a recreational facility in Zaporizhzhia.
Smoke rises over a residential building destroyed by a Russian air strike on Kramatorsk, Ukraine.Credit: AP
“Twelve people have been injured. As of now, sadly, two people are confirmed dead,” he said on social media site X.
“Also at night, there were vicious attacks on power grids in the Dnipro region, a drone-dropped munition targeting civilians in Kherson, and a strike on a gas facility in Novosilske, Odesa region. Hundreds of families were left without gas. In the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, the Russians targeted people’s private homes.
“No matter what the Kremlin says, they will only genuinely seek to end the war once they feel adequate pressure.”
With Reuters
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