The United States President Donald Trump noted that US imposition of a 50% tariff on countries buying oil from Russia had a significant impact on Russia’s economy.
While, addressing the White House briefing on Monday ahead of his Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump noted that he will know within the first two minutes of his meeting with Putin whether a deal can be struck. According to him, meeting with Russia is a ‘big deal.’
“I would like to see a ceasefire. I would like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties,” he expressed optimism about the meeting.
Trump said that he’s meeting with Putin to see what the parameters of a peace deal could be before he speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders.
“I’m going to meet with President Putin and we’re going to see what he has in mind, and if it’s a fair deal I’ll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to the NATO leaders and also to President Zelensky,” Trump said, noting that he’ll call Zelensky first “out of respect.”
Trump noted, “I will be calling the European leaders. They’re tired of the Russia-Ukraine war. They want to get back to spending money on their countries. They want to get back to building their own countries. They want it resolved.”
