The White House on Monday morning revealed that President Donald Trump wants to do ‘whatever it takes’ to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table for peace talks with Ukraine, including slapping Russia with additional sanctions.
White House deputy chief of staff James Blair joined ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the latest on the Trump administration’s effort to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, including the frustration that Trump is having with both sides.
‘Obviously, the president feels like we are making progress, but he’s been frustrated at both sides, which he’s made clear,’ Blair said. ‘He said over the weekend that the Ukrainians should have signed the deal with us weeks ago, and he wants them to hurry up and get that done. And Putin, [Trump] is very displeased with the attacks on civilian areas last week, and [Trump’s] put on the table increasing sanctions, secondary tariffs on oil, whatever it takes to make sure that they hurry up and get to the table and create peace.’
Russia launched a deadly missile attack on Kyiv that killed at least 12 people and injured at least 90, including children, on April 24.
When asked whether Trump was angry at the idea that Putin may be stringing him along, Blair pointed to a statement the president posted on his TRUTH Social platform on Saturday.
‘Well, look, he put out a statement, I think, two days ago on his TRUTH [Social account], where he said he does not want to be tapped along, he won’t accept it.’ Blair said. ‘He’s displeased, again, with the attacks on civilian areas, and the president said it makes him feel like maybe he doesn’t want peace as badly as he says he does. And the president’s not going to stand for that. If that means increasing sanctions, he’s obviously put that on the table.’
Blair spoke to Fox News about one hour before the Kremlin announced a three-day ceasefire with Ukraine from May 8 to May 10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War II. Kyiv did not immediately respond to the announcement.
Putin has previously said that he agrees in principle with a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire deal, though has so far refused to accept a complete unconditional ceasefire.
Over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to temper expectations for a major peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, telling NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ that while progress has been made, a deal is ‘still not there.’
Rubio’s Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ in a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday that Russia won’t discuss any potential negotiations in public, though emphasized that Russia is ‘always available for a dialogue.’