President Donald Trump on Friday threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia over its bombardments of Ukraine, after previously suspending US aid to Kyiv in a stated bid to encourage diplomacy.
鈥楤ased on the fact that Russia is absolutely 鈥榩ounding鈥� Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,鈥� Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
鈥楾o Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,鈥� he wrote.
Trump鈥檚 threat comes after Russia launched major drone and missile attacks Friday on Ukraine鈥檚 energy infrastructure.
Days earlier, the Trump administration suspended US military aid deliveries and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine after a dispute with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump and vice president JD Vance on February 28 berated Zelensky in a televised meeting at the White House, accusing him of ingratitude for billions of dollars in US weapons.
Trump has since faced harsh criticism from allies and domestic opponents who say he has sided with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The United States voted with Russia and against its European allies on United Nations resolutions that called for ending the war without stressing Ukraine鈥檚 territorial integrity.
Trump last month spoke by telephone with Russian president Vladimir Putin in an initial step toward resuming normal relations and undoing sweeping sanctions imposed under former president Joe Biden over the Ukraine invasion.
Russia launched a 鈥榤assive鈥� drone and missile attack on Ukrainian energy facilities early Friday, just days after Zelensky and European allies proposed that Moscow and Kyiv halt strikes on critical infrastructure.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched at least 58 missiles and nearly 200 drones, damaging energy聽 facilities across the country from Kharkiv in the east to Ternopil in the west.
Firefighters were battling a blaze on streets lined with debris in the Kharkiv region, images released by the emergency services showed.
The call from Zelensky to halt aerial bombardments on energy facilities is part of growing rhetoric from Kyiv, Washington and Moscow on halting the war, now in its fourth year.
The Kremlin had responded by ruling out any temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, and on Friday, its defence ministry confirmed it had carried out 鈥榩recision鈥� strikes on enegry facilities, claiming they support the Ukrainian military.
Russia is 鈥榯argeting facilities linked to Ukraine鈥檚 military-industrial complex,鈥� Putin鈥檚 spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Ukrainian air force said it had deployed French Mirage fighter jets 鈥� delivered to Ukraine last month 鈥� for the first time to repel the aerial onslaught.
The fighter jets along with air defence units shot down 34 of the missiles and 100 drones.
DTEK, the largest private energy supplier in Ukraine, said its facilities in the Black Sea region of Odesa were targeted for a fourth night in a row.
And it said that gas facilities in the central Poltava region had 鈥榗eased operations鈥� after being struck in the overnight attack.
State gas company Naftogaz also said its production facilities were damaged, without giving details.