New US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose "tariffs and sanctions" on Russia if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a deal to end the "ridiculous" war in Ukraine.
"Settle now and STOP this ridiculous war! IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE," he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, his first words on the war since taking office, DW reports.
"If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries," he said.
"Let's get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better. It's time to 'MAKE A DEAL.' NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!"
During his election campaign, Trump claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours by talking to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but has offered no clue as to exactly what he would propose.
It's unclear what further sanctions Trump would want to impose on Russia in addition to those already imposed by the United States, the European Union and others.
It's also unclear whether he intends to maintain the billions of dollars of military aid provided to Kyiv by Washington.
Trump didn't mention Ukraine at all in his inauguration speech.
