Zehra Nur Celik
27 May 2025•Update: 27 May 2025
ANKARA
US President Donald Trump is weighing new sanctions against Russia this week as tensions escalate with Russian President Vladimir Putin over continued attacks in Ukraine and lack of progress in peace negotiations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While new financial sanctions are not expected, the administration is exploring other measures to pressure Putin into making concessions including supporting a 30-day cease-fire backed by Ukraine, a proposal Russia has repeatedly rejected, the WSJ reported on Monday, citing sources close to Trump.
Trump, however, might also decide not to impose new sanctions, the report said.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump confirmed that sanctions were under serious consideration.
“He’s killing a lot of people,” Trump said of Putin. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him?”
The sources also said that Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with the peace process and may walk away from negotiations altogether if a final push fails — an abrupt shift for a leader who once pledged to end the conflict on his first day in office.
“President Trump has been clear he wants to see a negotiated peace deal,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. “President Trump has also smartly kept all options on the table.”
Trump struck a notably hardline tone in his remarks on Sunday, saying: “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don’t like it at all.”
“We’re in the middle of talking and he’s sending rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Trump spoke to Putin last week in a bid to gain a ceasefire in Ukraine. After the call, the two said they agreed to begin with direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the more than three-year-long conflict.
