US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that there would be “great consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy fail to hold talks to end the ongoing war.
Trump reiterated his claim that the conflict would not have happened if he were the president in 2022.
“There will be great consequences... This war would have never taken place if I were President... We will see what happens over the next week or two, and at that point I will step in very strongly,” the President said.
#WATCH | Washington DC | On being asked if there will be consequences if Russian and Ukrainian Presidents don't meet, US President Donald Trump says, "... There will be great consequences... This war would have never taken place if I were President... We will see what happens… pic.twitter.com/FsSgVJ8gDg
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2025
Trump’s assertion came days after he claimed that he would take a “very important decision” in the next two weeks on the Russia-Ukraine war, indicating that the US administration is likely to impose massive sanctions on Moscow.
"In two weeks, we are going to know which way I am going because I'm going to go one way or another. It's going to be a very important decision. I'm going to decide whether it's not massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or do we do nothing and say it's your fight?,” he had said.
His statement came in the wake of his meeting with Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House, days after his Alaska summit with Putin.
After the meeting, Trump wrote on social media that has begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy to discuss a pathway to end the brutal war.
“I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” he said.
