United States President Donald Trump announced today that he is canceling his planned meeting with Vladimir Putin, stating that it “just didn’t feel right.” He also announced that it was “time” to impose new sanctions on Russia, following Treasury Secretary Scott Besant’s announcement of new penalties on the two largest Russian oil companies.
"Every time I talk to Vladimir, we have good conversations, but then they don't go anywhere," Trump told reporters during his meeting with the NATO Secretary General.
Trump said he "hopes" that the sanctions announced a little earlier by the US Treasury Department against two major Russian oil groups will be short-lived and that they will contribute to ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaking of "huge" sanctions, the US president said that "we hope they won't last too long. We hope the war will end," as he welcomed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to the Oval Office of the White House.
The US president clarified that he will discuss the issue of peace in Ukraine during his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, describing it as "high-risk" and crucial for international stability.
"I think he can have a lot of influence on Putin. I think he can have an influence," the US president said, adding "we will definitely talk about Russia and Ukraine" with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.
He added that he wants a bilateral trade agreement with the Chinese president and that he will raise concerns about Beijing's purchase of Russian oil.
"I think we'll make a deal," he predicted, also saying that he wants China to start buying soybeans from the US again, against the backdrop of his threats of prohibitive tariffs on Chinese products.
Referring to Ukraine, Trump highlighted the complexity of Tomahawk missiles, explaining that this is one of the reasons he has not yet authorized their deployment to the country. As he noted, the United States "has no control" over how Ukraine uses missile systems it receives from other countries, even if they are used for attacks inside Russian territory.
"It would take at least 6 months, usually a year for someone to learn how to use them. They are very complicated. The only way a Tomahawk is going to be launched is if we launch it, and we are not going to do that. We know how to use them and we are not going to teach anyone else," Trump explained about the Tomahawk missiles requested by Ukraine.
Regarding Colombia, the US president announced the cessation of all payments and subsidies to the country, accusing President Gustavo Petro of not having taken sufficient measures to address drug production, “despite large-scale amounts of money and subsidies from the US”. He also said that he may take “very serious action” against Colombia, due to its role in drug trafficking at an international level and
called the Colombian president a "bad guy" — a few days after calling him a "drug lord."
On international operations, Trump revealed that the US military carried out a strike this week against a vessel in the eastern Pacific that was believed to be involved in drug trafficking. This is the eighth known attack on a suspected vessel. Trump said he believes he has the legal authority to authorize such operations in international waters, but may seek congressional approval for any action on land.
"This is a national security issue... They killed 300.000 Americans last year. We're hitting international waters. When you see a boat with 5 engines in the back, it's definitely not a fishing boat," Trump stressed.
Finally, responding to criticism over the demolition of part of the East Wing of the White House, Trump defended his plans to build a new 90.000-square-foot (8,361 sq m) ballroom at a cost of about $300 million. He even showed reporters printed plans for the project, stressing that the process had been “completely transparent.”
Sanctions on Russian energy groups Rosneft and Lukoil
The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Russian energy groups Rosneft and Lukoil on Wednesday, accusing Moscow of "lacking serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine."
"Given President (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, the (US) Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on the two largest (Russian) oil companies that fund the Kremlin's war machine," Scott Bessant said in a statement released by his office.
The US Treasury Secretary added that Washington is prepared to "take further action if necessary" and added that "we urge our allies to join us in adopting these sanctions."
NATO chief welcomes Trump sanctions on Russian oil companies
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the Trump administration's decision to impose sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies on Tuesday, while calling for more pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
"What the president is doing today with these sanctions is putting more pressure, of course, on both parties, in this case on Russia," Rutte said, while sitting next to President Donald Trump at the White House.
"It's all about changing the calculus, about making sure that Putin understands that the president's vision this weekend for a ceasefire, to stop where it is... That has to be the first step now," the NATO Secretary General said.
Asked whether Ukraine should be supplied with US Tomahawk missiles, the head of the military alliance said it was up to individual nations to decide what they wanted to supply to the country. "NATO does not take a position," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to secure Tomahawk missiles for attacks on Russia after a meeting with Trump last week, with the US president later calling on both sides to stop fighting and accept the current battle lines.
Source: protothema.gr
