Trump renews threat of sanctions on Russia amid absence of Ukraine peace deal

US President Donald Trump on Friday renewed his warning that Russia could face sweeping sanctions if no progress is made toward a peace deal in Ukraine within two weeks, signaling growing frustration with Moscow just a week after meeting President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

"I'm going to make a decision, and it's going to be very important—whether that's massive sanctions, massive tariffs, both, or nothing at all, leaving it as their fight," Trump told reporters at the White House.

He voiced particular anger over a recent Russian strike on an American-owned factory in Ukraine that sparked a fire and injured workers. "I'm not happy about it, and I'm not happy about anything connected to that war," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Moscow of deliberately blocking a potential summit with Putin, which he sees as the only viable path to ending the war. "The meeting is one of the components of how to end the war. And since they don't want to end it, they will look for excuses to avoid it," Zelenskiy said at a joint press conference in Kyiv with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, dismissed the idea, telling NBC there was "no agenda at all" for such a summit. "Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskiy when the agenda is ready—but it is not ready," he said, echoing Moscow’s longstanding conditions.

Asked about the stalemate, Trump responded: "We'll see. We're going to see if Putin and Zelenskiy will be working together. It's like oil and vinegar a little bit."

At the same White House appearance, Trump displayed a photo from his Alaska meeting with Putin, noting the Russian leader’s interest in attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. "He may be coming, and he may not, depending on what happens," Trump remarked, without acknowledging that Russia remains barred from international football competitions since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Putin, during a visit to a nuclear research center on Friday, struck an optimistic note about Trump’s role, saying: "With the arrival of President Trump, I think a light at the end of the tunnel has finally appeared. We had a very good, meaningful and frank meeting in Alaska."

The war, now in its third year, has claimed tens of thousands of civilian lives and left more than a million soldiers on both sides dead or wounded, according to analysts. Fighting continues across eastern and southern Ukraine, with repeated strikes on energy infrastructure.

Russia continues to demand that Ukraine surrender territory in the east while freezing current battle lines in the south—proposals Kyiv rejects. Zelenskiy has eased his earlier demand for a prolonged ceasefire before any talks but insists Ukraine cannot negotiate "under the barrel of a gun."

At his joint briefing with Rutte, Zelenskiy also pushed for NATO-style security guarantees. "These guarantees should be as strong as Article 5 of NATO, so that Russia never dares attack again," he said. Rutte affirmed that allies were working with Kyiv to craft "robust security guarantees" to deter future aggression.