Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he will give Russia and Ukraine two weeks to hold talks aimed at ending the war between the two countries, and if no progress is made, he will decide on the next steps, which could include heavy sanctions or tariffs.
“We'll see what happens over the next two weeks. We’re going to find out which way it’s going to go,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump said he expects to watch the attitudes of both sides during that period before determining his course of action.
Calling it “a very important decision,” the president said he will determine “whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both—or do we do nothing and say, ‘It’s your fight.’”
Trump made the remarks in the Oval Office during an event announcing that the 2026 World Cup draw will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington in December.
At the event, Trump showed a photo of himself with Putin, taken at last week’s Alaska summit. He stated that the Russian president may visit the United States for the World Cup next summer.
He later expressed his disappointment with Russia’s latest overnight strikes, which hit a U.S. factory in Ukraine.
“I’m not happy about it,” he said. “I’m not happy about anything about that war. Nothing.”
Last week, Trump hosted high-stakes peace talks with Putin in Alaska, which ended without a cease-fire. On Aug. 18, he met with Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House to discuss the Alaska summit and next steps.
Following those talks, Trump began arranging a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, after which he said the three leaders would hold a trilateral session. So far, however, neither Russia nor Ukraine has announced a date or location for the bilateral meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with NBC aired on Friday that there’s no agenda for a potential summit.
“Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,” Lavrov said, adding no meeting was therefore planned for now.
During the Alaska summit, Putin agreed to accept security guarantees for Ukraine after the war.
Trump later announced that European countries would provide security guarantees to Ukraine in coordination with the United States, and suggested that Europeans agreed to provide troops on the ground to prevent future aggressions.
Lavrov, however, said on Aug. 20 that European proposals to deploy troops in Ukraine after the war would mean “foreign intervention,” which he said was unacceptable to Moscow.
Speaking during a press conference, Lavrov said Moscow won’t agree with collective security guarantees negotiated without the Russian Federation.
“It is a road to nowhere,” he said.
On Aug. 22, Zelenskyy criticized Moscow for demanding to be included in any security guarantees.
“Russia does not want, did not want, and will not want to end the war now,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “It wants to issue ultimatums, and to use those to delay the possibility of ending this war.”
In a surprise post on Aug. 21, Trump said that Ukraine cannot win its war without launching attacks on Russia, criticizing prior U.S. policy that only allowed Kyiv to defend itself, not attack.
“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invader’s country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia.”
Trump criticized the previous administration for limiting Kyiv.
He wrote, President Joe Biden “would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out?”
“Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President—ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!!”