“SECONDARY TARIFFS”
Trump has previously threatened that new measures could mean “secondary tariffs” targeting Russia’s remaining trade partners, such as China and India. This would further stifle Russia, but would risk significant international disruption.
Despite the pressure from Washington, Russia has continued its onslaught against its pro-Western neighbour.
Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said on Friday that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his nearly three-and-a-half-year invasion were “unchanged”.
“We need a lasting and stable peace on solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries,” Putin told reporters.
But he added that “the conditions (from the Russian side) certainly remain the same.”
Russia has frequently called on Ukraine to effectively cede control of four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, a demand Kyiv has called unacceptable.
Putin also wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Ukraine launched a drone attack on Sunday that sparked a fire at an oil depot in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Kyiv has said it will intensify its air strikes against Russia in response to an increase in Russian attacks on its territory in recent weeks, which have killed dozens of civilians.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Monday that its air defences intercepted 61 Ukrainian drones overnight.
One person was killed by Russian shelling in the southern Kherson region, Ukraine’s military administration said in a Telegram post early on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said on Sunday that the two sides were preparing a prisoner exchange that would see 1,200 Ukrainian troops return home, following talks with Russia in Istanbul in July.
Trump began his second term with his own rosy predictions that the war in Ukraine – raging since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022 – would soon end.
In recent weeks, Trump has increasingly voiced frustration with Putin over Moscow’s unrelenting offensive.
