Ukraine praised U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday for threatening to impose tariffs and sanctions on Russia if it refuses to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine and said the comment sent a “strong signal”.
Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to halt the fighting in Ukraine without saying how, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to “stop this ridiculous war” and threatened to impose punitive measures if no deal is reached.
“We do really welcome such strong messages from President Trump and we believe that he will be the winner. And we believe that we have an additional chance to get new dynamic in diplomatic efforts to end this war,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, speaking in English at a discussion panel in Davos, Switzerland.
Kyiv has long urged its allies to impose tougher sanctions on Russia to raise the costs of the war for Moscow and to discourage it from undertaking any further aggression.
The Kremlin said it saw nothing particularly new in Trump’s threat, but that it was following closely “all nuances” in his rhetoric and remained open to dialogue.
Asked about Trump’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump had often applied sanctions on Russia during his first term as president.
Trump’s calls to end the war as soon as possible sparked fears in Kyiv and among European allies that a hasty deal could play into Russia’s hands and entail Ukraine making major territorial and other concessions.
Kyiv has repeatedly emphasised the importance of a deal that would produce a fair and lasting peace.