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US President Donald Trump warned Wednesday of “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to halt the war in Ukraine after their Friday summit in Alaska, without specifying what those measures would be.
“There will be, I don’t have to say, there will be very severe consequences,” he said while speaking at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
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When asked if he is confident he could get Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine, Trump said, he has had “good conversations” with Putin, but then goes home and sees that “a rocket hit a nursing home or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the street.”
“So I guess the answer to that is no, because I’ve had this conversation.”
Second summit with Zelenskyy
Trump also said there was a chance of a second meeting involving Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which he predicted would be “more productive” than the one scheduled for Friday. “In the first meeting, I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing,” he said, adding, “I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
The US president said he plans to call Zelenskyy and other European leaders after Friday’s talks. He described his most recent conversations with them as “very good” and “very friendly,” rating them “a 10.”
Earlier, leaders from Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the UK, the EU and NATO praised the call and the close coordination between Europe and the US. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump “largely shares” Europe’s position on the talks and stressed the need to involve Ukraine in any decisions about its future.
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“The strategy is based on supporting Ukraine and putting pressure on Russia. So if in Alaska there’s no movement on the Russian side, then the US and the Europeans need to increase the pressure,” Merz said.Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has been closely involved in discussions with Trump, said “the next few days and weeks can be decisive” for Ukraine’s future.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, however, urged allies to ramp up pressure on Russia, insisting that Putin was “bluffing” when claiming sanctions had not hurt the Russian economy.
Zelenskyy said the leaders shared “a common understanding – as long as Russia takes no steps toward peace, we must continue to exert pressure on it and strengthen support for Ukraine.” He also thanked Germany for hosting the talks and approving a new $500 million aid package for Kyiv.
(With inputs from Reuters, BBC and The Guardian)
