Donald Trump is intensifying his push to bring Russia and
Ukraine to the negotiating table, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to
meet directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the 3½-year
war.
According to U.S. officials, senior American and European
representatives gathered at the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday to discuss
new ways of pressuring Moscow economically. The closed-door meeting reportedly
explored additional sanctions, tariffs on Russian oil purchases, and strategies
for managing Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe.
People familiar with the talks say the White House made it
clear that Trump is prepared to take major steps to end the conflict but
expects European allies to act in full coordination. The discussions lasted
less than two hours and involved key U.S. agencies such as the State Department
and the U.S. Trade Representative, alongside European experts in energy,
finance, and trade.
This comes on the heels of Trump’s summit with Putin last
month in Alaska and after a deadline he set in August for the Kremlin to halt
its invasion passed without results. On Sunday, Trump said he expects to speak
with Putin “in the next couple of days” and acknowledged the war has been
harder to resolve than he initially anticipated. Still, he expressed confidence
a settlement could be reached soon.
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