Topics: Politics, US News, Russia, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin, Ireland
US President Donald Trump has warned Russia, if needed, the US could 'do very bad things' to it, but it 'won't' because ultimately it wants 'peace' in Ukraine.
Earlier today (March 12), Trump met Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin at the White House's Oval Office in Washington DC as part of the Irish government's traditional St Patrick's Day engagements.
The meeting follows hot on the heels of the tense meeting between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and amid discussions of peace regarding the ongoing war, which first began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
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And so despite it not being part of the St Patrick engagements, the 47th President of the US was repeatedly asked about progress in Ukraine.
Trump told reporters: "We’ve gotten half of it as a ceasefire and if we can get Russia to stop, then we have a full ceasefire. We have a full ceasefire when it — if it kicks in, we have to see. It’s up to Russia now.
"People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia. And if we do, I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath that is - it’s a bloodbath is taking place over there."
While noting he hopes 'it is not going to be necessary' to have to pressure Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire, he resolved if needed, 'there are things you can do that wouldn't be pleasant in a financial sense', which would be 'very bad for Russia'.
"We could do things very bad for Russia. Would be devastating for Russia. But I don’t want to do that because I want to see peace."
Vice President JD Vance added in-person conversations with Russia are expected to take place over the forthcoming days.
He echoed: "We think we’re in a very good place where the Ukrainians have agreed to a ceasefire, and we’re now going to see whether we can get the Russians to agree to a ceasefire too."
Trump reflected on previous US presidents relationships with Moscow, noting his sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline during his previous stint in office was 'very tough' - 'the toughest ever'.
"They never took anything from me. They took them from Obama and Bush, and they took from sleepy Joe Biden. With Biden, they wanted to take the whole country, but I think I’ve stopped that, but we’ll see," he added.
Trump's comments follow him saying Russia is actually easier to deal with than Ukraine and Zelenskyy having taken to Twitter to stress: "Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians."
He resolved: "We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.
"Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal."
