Trump said he would impose tariffs, taxes and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the US and other countries - unless a peace deal with Ukraine is reached.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose high taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the US and other countries if a peace deal with Ukraine is not reached soon.

In a post on the social network TruthSocial, Trump wrote that he “does not want to harm Russia.” “I love the Russian people and have always had a very good relationship with President Putin - this despite the radical left’s hoaxes about Russia,” the post said.

He also recalls that Russia “helped” the United States “win World War II, losing nearly 60 million lives in the process.” Calling for an immediate end to the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump writes that he intends to do a “very big favor” for President Putin and Russia, whose “economy is collapsing.”

“If we don’t make a “deal” (this word is in quotation marks in Trump’s original post - note “Medusa”), and soon, I will have no choice but to impose high taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the United States and various other countries involved,” Trump wrote. He adds that this can be done “the easy way or the hard way,” but “the easy way is always better.”

There are no other specific proposals or calls for Russia (or Ukraine) in Trump’s post.