US President Donald Trump’s new sanctions on two large Russian oil companies were “appropriate and necessary”, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday. She mentioned that the imposition of sanctions was a sign of frustration over the limited progress made on a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
During a press briefing at the White House, Leavitt said, “The president (Donald Trump) has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary. And yesterday was that day. The president has also long expressed his frustration with Vladimir Putin (Russian President) and both sides of this war (Russia-Ukraine).”
Criticizing the lack of enough ‘interest or action’ from Moscow to move towards peace, Leavitt said that a meeting between the US President and the Russian President has not been ruled out. “He’s always said that in order to negotiate a good peace deal, both sides need to be interested in it. He feels, unfortunately, that on the Russian side, as of late, he has not seen enough interest or action in moving the ball forward towards peace. A meeting between these two leaders (Trump and Putin) is not completely off the table,” Leavitt said.
#WATCH | Washington, DC | On US sanctions against Russia, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "The president has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary. And yesterday was that day. The president… pic.twitter.com/t5MtfLxjN1
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Explaining the intention of Donald Trump to see action, not just talk, to make progress towards peace, Leavitt added that the United States wants to ensure that a meeting between him and Vladimir Putin will be a productive use of his time. “The president and the entire administration hope that it can happen again one day. But we want to make sure that there’s a tangible positive outcome out of that meeting and that it’s a good use of the president’s time,” the White House Press Secretary said.
“The president wants to see action, not just talk. The president is extremely motivated by the success of his Middle East peace deal to get things done. And he wants this war to end. He’s been saying it for nine months now, since being in office. And he’s grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress,” Leavitt added.
Meanwhile, she claimed that India, along with China, is scaling back purchases from Russia and that the new sanctions on two Russian oil companies are ‘pretty’ hefty.
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