Russians are rejecting Donald Trump’s demand to sign a ceasefire deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days or face “severe” tariffs.
Speaking Monday in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said he is “very unhappy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to his continued attacks in Ukraine. He also announced a deal for the U.S. to continue arming Ukraine by selling additional weapons to its NATO allies which will then be sent to Ukraine.
“We’re very, very unhappy with [Russia], and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in about 50 days,” he said.
Russian officials dismissed the latest threat from Trump, calling for continued negotiations and insisting that the invasion will continue until its goals are achieved.
“Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, wrote in a post on X.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday that “any attempts to make demands, especially ultimatums, are unacceptable to us,” CBS News reported citing Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
“We need to focus on political and diplomatic work. The President of the Russian Federation has repeatedly said that we are ready to negotiate and the diplomatic path is preferable for us,” he added. “If we cannot achieve our goals through diplomacy, then the SVO (war in Ukraine) will continue… This is an unshakable position. We would like Washington and NATO as a whole to take it with the utmost seriousness.”
