United States President Donald Trump has issued a thinly veiled threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, warning of unspecified consequences if he is unhappy with Moscow’s next steps in its conflict with Kyiv.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said he planned to talk to Putin in the coming days, but the Russian leader was aware of his administration’s stance on the war.
“I have no message to President Putin. He knows where I stand, and he’ll make a decision one way or the other,” Trump said.
“Whatever his decision is, we’ll either be happy about it or unhappy. And if we’re unhappy about it, you’ll see things happen.”
Trump’s comments came after Putin said earlier that he would be willing to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Moscow amid the US president’s push for an agreement to end the war.
“Donald asked me for such a meeting. I said: ‘Yes, it’s possible, let Zelenskyy come to Moscow,'” Putin said at the end of his visit to China, where he attended Beijing’s commemorations of the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.
“I have never ruled out the possibility of such a meeting,” Putin said. “But is there any point? Let’s see.”
Putin added that Moscow would achieve its aims in Ukraine militarily if it could not reach an agreement.
“Let’s see how the situation develops,” Putin said.
Responding to Putin’s comments, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there were “serious proposals” by seven countries to host a meeting between the two leaders, which Zelenskyy was ready for at “any point in time”.
“Yet, Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals. Only increased pressure can force Russia to finally get serious about the peace process,” Sybiha wrote on social media.
Trump has suggested a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy as part of his efforts to bring an end to the three-and-a-half-year-long conflict.
Despite Trump’s pledge to bring a swift end to the conflict, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on the terms of any potential peace agreement.
Russia has said that any deal with Ukraine would need to include land in four regions it has annexed since 2022, while Kyiv has ruled out ceding any territory.
Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said Putin provided an insight into how he sees the war unfolding.
“He believes that the United States administration of Donald Trump understands what Russia’s position is and that Russia would be willing to negotiate an end to this conflict, but it’s not going to submit to the demands that Ukraine is making and its own security guarantees have to be met,” Jabbari said.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said he hoped to speak to Trump on Thursday to push for new sanctions on Russia.
“We also have signals from the United States that it will provide a backstop, and this is important,” Zelenskyy said in Copenhagen, referring to proposed post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that security guarantees for Ukraine were ready and would be endorsed on Thursday by the “coalition of the willing” backing Kyiv.
“We are ready as Europeans to offer security guarantees to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, the day a peace deal is signed,” Macron said.
Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from the White House, said Trump’s upcoming talks with Putin would most likely concern his proposal for a summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
“What is interesting is that the Elysee Palace in Paris has announced that Zelenskyy will meet with the so-called coalition of the willing either virtually or in person on Thursday, and the intention is that after that meeting, there will be a phone call with Donald Trump,” Fisher said.
“Now, no confirmation yet from the White House, but that would certainly suggest the sequence of events will be coalition of the willing meeting with Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy then chats to Trump, Trump then talks to Putin, and we find out where that goes after that.”
