Donald Trump issues ultimatum to Putin over Ukraine war - 'it will only get worse'

US President Donald Trump has warned Russia President Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine soon, or face a number of high sanctions and tariffs

US President Donald Trump has threatened Russia with steep tariffs and sanctions if the war in Ukraine does not come to an end soon.

Having barely settled back into the Oval Office since his second inauguration on Monday, the second term president has taken aim at a number of his pre-election promises. Now, Trump has posted a warning message to Russian president Vladimir Putin in which he called on him to end his brutal war in Ukraine.

In the message he promised things "will only get worse" should Russia not heed his message. Trump, who continues to insist the war would not have happened if he had been president at the time, said: "I'm not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin.

"We must never forget Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process. All of that being said, I'm going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin a very big favour - settle now, and stop this ridiculous war!

"It's only going to get worse. If we don't make a deal, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.

"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." He added, in capitals, it is time to "make a deal" and "no more lives should be lost".

Yesterday, Trump told reporters: “He has to make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia is going to be in big trouble.”

Russian ultranationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, known as 'Putin's Brain' issued a chilling warning to Donald Trump about the threat of assassination. He said the newly inaugurated US president could be a victim of the country's "deep state".

Dugin - whose TV pundit daughter Darya Dugina, 29, was assassinated in a suspected hit by Ukraine in 2022 - said Trump's determination to reveal US documents about John F Kennedy'a death put the US president at risk.

He said: "Trump promises to make information about Kennedy's murder available to everyone, to make it public, and about many crimes of the 'deep state' inside the USA.. This directly affects the interests of the special services, a huge number of influential circles.