WSJ: Trump mulls fresh sanctions on Russia amid growing frustration at slow pace of peace talks

US President Donald Trump is said to be considering imposing sanctions on Russia as soon as this week, amid a lack of progress in the peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said on Tuesday.

Sources told the WSJ that Trump was increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of peace negotiations and Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to stop the fighting.

One source said any sanctions would most likely not extend to the Russian banking sector, adding that the Trump administration was said to be discussing other ways of putting pressure on Putin.

The sources also said that Trump, now tired of the peace negotiations, was thinking of giving up on them altogether if the latest round of sanctions didn’t work. This was “a remarkable change for a leader who campaigned on his ability to end the conflict on his first day in office”, the WSJ said.

On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Putin had gone “absolutely crazy” and was “needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever”.

Trump also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he was “doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.” Zelensky had previously condemned “the silence of America” after the massive Russian strikes on Ukraine last weekend.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s words must be due to the “emotional overload” of the start of negotiations, thanking Trump for “helping to launch the negotiation process”.