Secretary Marco Rubio, with from left, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban, the Russian president’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting together at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 18, 2025. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)
President Donald Trump has threatened devastating financial measures against Russia if the country refuses to work toward peace in Ukraine. Russian negotiator Yuri Ushakov has dismissed the ceasefire as a “respite for the Ukrainian military.” Solange Reyner reports in Newsmax on Trump’s threat, writing:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened “devastating” financial penalties for Russia if President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
“There are things that wouldn’t be pleasant in a financial sense. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“In a financial sense, yes, we could do things that would be very bad for Russia, that would be devastating for Russia. But I don’t want to do that because I want to see peace. And we’re getting close to maybe getting something done. We got Ukraine done. And, as you know, Ukraine might have been the more difficult party. You were here a week ago when some interesting things happened. I had somebody who didn’t seem to want peace. Now he’s agreed to peace.”
Trump also said “people are going to Russia right now as we speak and hopefully, we can get a ceasefire from Russia. If we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath” ended.
Yushkov’s words were reported by Sam Kiley, Namita Singh and Alex Croft of The Independent:
A 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia would only benefit Kyiv’s forces, a top Kremlin aide has said, as US officials arrive in Moscow to discuss the truce.
Moscow yesterday reviewed details of the White House’s proposal, which was agreed during US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia and led to a restoration of US military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.
“I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Yuri Ushakov said in a TV interview, adding that he had set out his position during talks with US national security advisor Mike Waltz.
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