President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is “playing with fire” in comments, as reports grow that the United States could impose new sanctions on Moscow.
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,” Trump posted on his Truth Social page. “He’s playing with fire!”
Trump’s post comes as reports grow that he could be considering imposing new sanctions on Russia, reported CNN on Tuesday.
There have been several options drawn up in recent weeks on new sanctions, with members of Congress calling on Trump to sign off on them.
Sunday, Trump said he would “absolutely” consider the new sanctions, though, after Russia’s fierce bombardment of Ukrainian targets.
Sources close to the White House told CNN that Trump may not apply the sanctions and said that the president has expressed concerns privately that new sanctions may push Russia even further from peace talks.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who has co-sponsored a bipartisan Senate bill with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told CNN on Monday that “all of us” are pressing “very, very hard” for the sanctions.
Their bill calls for “crippling” measures including secondary sanctions that would impose 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy. More than 80 senators have signed on to the measure.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that reports suggesting new sanctions from the United States are part of a campaign that is aimed at disrupting the peace talks concerning Ukraine.
Trump this weekend called Putin “crazy” for continuing to fire missiles that are killing Ukrainian citizens despite the continued peace talks.
In that post, Trump also criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he was doing “no favors by talking the way he does,” and insisting that the war would not have started if he had been the president in 2022 rather than former President Joe Biden.
“This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred,” said Trump.