Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should not target Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin should agree to a ceasefire deal by a 50-day deadline or sanctions will kick in.
His comments came after The Financial Times, citing people briefed on discussions, reported on Tuesday that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russia.
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The newspaper said that Trump asked Zelenskiy whether he could strike Moscow if the U.S. provided long-range weapons.
“No, he shouldn’t target Moscow,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House when asked if Zelenskiy should attack the Russian capital.
Trump on Monday announced a toughened stance against Russia for its three-year-old war in Ukraine, promising a fresh wave of missiles and other weaponry for Ukraine. He gave Moscow 50 days to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions.
The announcement set off a scramble among European officials to figure out how to make Trump’s plan work and ensure Ukraine gets the weapons it needs.
Later on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that some of the Patriot missiles are already on their way to Ukraine.
“They’re coming in from Germany,” he said.
Trump said he had not yet spoken to Putin in the wake of his announcement, but said it might not take 50 days to make a deal.
Asked earlier if he was now on the side of Ukraine, Trump said, “I am on nobody’s side,” and then declared he was on “humanity’s side” because “I want to stop the killing.”
Trump defended the deadline he set for Russia to agree to a deal and head off tariffs and sanctions on countries that buy oil from Russia.
He did not say whether any talks were planned to try to work out a deal with Russia.
“At the end of the 50 days if we don’t have a deal, it’s going to be too bad,” he said.
Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Jasper Ward; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler
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