President Donald Trump has promised that Russia will experience “very severe” consequences if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear open to stopping his war with Ukraine when the pair meet on Friday in Alaska for their highly anticipated meeting.
“Yes, they will. There will be consequences,” Trump told reporters Wednesday during an event at the Kennedy Center.
When pressed on what those consequences could be, including sanctions or tariffs, Trump declined to answer, saying only that they would be “very severe consequences.”
Trump, who had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders earlier Wednesday about Friday’s meeting, downplayed the potential of him convincing Putin to stop attacking Ukrainian civilians, pointing to how past “good conversations” did not prevent similar attacks.
Trump described Friday’s meeting with Putin as “setting the table” for future sit-downs between himself, Putin, and Zelensky.
“If the first one goes ok, we’ll have a quick second one,” he said. “I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin, and President Zelensky, and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
Trump rated Wednesday morning’s call with Zelensky and their European counterparts a “10,” adding it was “very friendly.”
Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held their own brief press conference in Berlin after the call, with the Ukrainian underscoring through a translator the importance of “everything about Ukraine will be discussed with Ukraine.”
Zelensky reiterated his desire for him and Trump to first negotiate a ceasefire and “real security guarantees,” though Trump reportedly repeated the need for concessions regarding land.
“Russia cannot have a veto as to [the European Union] or NATO of the status of Ukraine, and we have to combine the negotiations with the pressure against Russia,” he said. “Sanctions should be strengthened if Russia will not go for [a] ceasefire in Alaska.”
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Merz emphasized that “Trump can expect our full support,” though he admitted that the U.S. only “largely shares” European positions concerning peace.
“Ukraine is willing to discuss territorial questions but then the contact line needs to be the starting point and legal recognition of Russian-occupied territory is not part of discussion,” he said.