PUTIN ‘NOT HONEST AND FORTHRIGHT’ IN TALKS
Trump had held off on new sanctions for months in hopes of persuading Putin to conform to a ceasefire, regardless of rising frustration in Washington and amongst European allies.
The president final week floated the thought of a gathering with Putin in Budapest to push for a peace deal however abruptly shelved the plan on Tuesday, saying he didn’t need “a wasted assembly.”
Bessent’s feedback got here because the European Union accepted its nineteenth bundle of sanctions on Russia, together with a phased ban on Russian liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) imports and restrictions on oil tankers and diplomats.
Since returning to workplace in January, Trump has repeatedly alternated between threats and outreach to Moscow as he seeks to finish the three-and-a-half-year warfare in Ukraine.
On the similar time, he has pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to surrender some territory whereas rejecting Kyiv’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
The newest spherical of sanctions is anticipated to be one of many largest ever imposed by the US on Russia because the invasion started.
