INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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, Reuters reported.
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.
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, read the report.
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, Reuters reported.
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.
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