President Trump warned on Wednesday that there would be “severe consequences” for Russia if it did not agree to stop its war in Ukraine after his meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
“There will be consequences. I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences,” Trump told reporters during an event at the Kennedy Center.
The president previously threatened in July to impose sanctions and secondary tariffs on Russia if Putin did not agree to end the war within 50 days, a deadline he later shortened to early August.
But Trump has not followed through on those punishments ahead of his planned summit with Putin, with the exception of doubling tariffs on India for its purchase of Russian oil.
While Trump has at times complained about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s approach to the conflict, he has in recent weeks expressed increasing frustration with Putin as Moscow continues to fire missiles into Ukraine despite the White House’s push for a ceasefire.
The president has tempered expectations for what will come of his meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, saying it is about “setting the table” for a potential follow-up meeting involving both Putin and Zelensky.
“There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting that will be more productive than the first,” Trump said. “Because the first is I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing.”
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