Trump to Putin: End 'ridiculous' war against Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump emphatically told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday to "STOP this ridiculous War!" against Ukraine or the United States would soon impose new "high levels" of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on any Russian exports to the West.

Two days into his second term in the White House, Trump told Putin in a social media post that he was "not looking to hurt Russia" and that the U.S. "must never forget" that Russia helped the U.S. win World War II, but that it was time to end Moscow's nearly three-year invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

"All of that being said," Trump noted on his Truth Social account, "I'm going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE."

"If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon," Trump said he would "have no other choice" but to impose taxes, tariffs and sanctions. Under former President Joe Biden, who left office on Monday, the United States and its European allies frequently sanctioned key sectors of the Russian economy and oligarch friends of Putin, worsening the country's economy but failing to stop the war.

Trump said, "Let's get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better. It's time to "MAKE A DEAL." NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!"

There was no immediate response from Putin to Trump's demands.

In the months before assuming power again, Trump frequently said he would have the Russia-Ukraine conflict resolved before taking over the White House for a second nonconsecutive term. But as his inauguration on Monday approached, Trump's aides retreated from the timeline, saying the new goal was to have the war ended in the first 100 days of his administration, which would be near the end of April.

Under Biden, key aides said it was up to Ukraine to decide if and when to start peace negotiations with Russia.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday his nascent administration has been in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and would be speaking with Putin "very soon."

He said the European Union should be “paying a lot more than they’re paying” to aid Ukraine, while falsely stating the U.S. has contributed $200 billion more than the bloc.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has committed about $175 billion in aid for Ukraine. The European Union says the bloc and its member states have made about $145 billion in aid available.

Trump says Europe should be paying more because its proximity means the war has a greater effect on the EU than the United States.

“I mean, what are we, stupid? I guess the answer is yes, because they must think so,” Trump said.

He has previously complained that NATO allies are not allocating enough of their spending to defense and called for increased defense budget targets.

'We can do more'

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said during a speech Wednesday at conference of the EU's defense agency that, in terms of general defense spending, Trump is “right to say that we don’t spend enough,” and that the EU needs to invest more.

She called for the EU to provide “more, faster and stronger” support to Ukraine, saying that Ukrainians “are fighting for their freedom and ours.”

“There is absolutely no doubt that we can do more to help Ukraine,” Kallas said. “With our help, they can also win the war.”

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that if a ceasefire deal were enacted with Russia, "at least 200,000 European peacekeepers" would need to be on the ground in Ukraine to defend the eastern European country against a possible new attack by Russia.

Zelenskyy said Europe must "take care of itself." He said 200,000 peacekeepers from European countries would be the minimum number of peacekeepers required, "Otherwise, it's nothing."

"Let's not forget, there is no ocean separating European countries from Russia," Zelenskyy said in his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Ukraine's president said Russia's demand that Ukraine reduce its army to one-fifth of its current size of 800,000 is not an option.

Ukraine's best defense during a ceasefire deal, Zelenskyy said, would be its membership into NATO, which Western allies have committed to but not while the war with Russia rages.

Alliance members have declared that Ukraine is on an "irreversible" path to membership, but the United States, Germany and others oppose allowing Ukraine to join while the war is ongoing for fear of sparking a wider conflict.

Aerial attacks

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday the country's air defenses shot down dozens of drones overnight, including in Mykolaiv, where Governor Vitaliy Kim said falling debris damaged an apartment building and injured two people.

Officials in the Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions also reported drones being shot down in their areas.

Russia's defense ministry said it destroyed six Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region, while also knocking down a drone over Kursk and another over Voronezh.

Rostov Governor Yury Slyusar said drone fragments fell in the courtyard of a house, but that no one was injured.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.