The “trust” of President Donald Trump in the Vladimir Putin of Russia now faces an important evidence since the world awaits Moscow to respond to a high 30 -day fire proposed by the United States and accepted by Ukraine.
Trump said after Tuesday in Saudi Arabia that he would talk to Putin soon, although he declined to comment on Wednesday when he was asked if something had been scheduled.
“I have received some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing,” he said from the Oval office, where he was splashed with doubts about what comes next. “This is a very serious situation.”
The Kremlin has said cautiously that the proposal is reviewing and will not be pushed to anything.
President Donald Trump meets Vice President JD Vance and the head of Personnel, Susie Wiles, during a meeting with the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on March 12, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The Trump administration exerted significant pressure on Ukraine in recent weeks to stop military aid and stop intelligence exchange, both resumed only after Ukraine agreed to high the fire on Tuesday.
American officials, including Trump himself, have also established limited expectations in the midst of broader negotiations on the borders of Ukraine and expressly ruled out the NATO membership for the ally of Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, they have not publicly demanded any Putin concession, and it is not clear to what extent Trump is willing to press Russia to accept the 30 -day fire.
“We can, but I hope it is not necessary,” Trump said Wednesday when asked about that same problem.
“There are things that you could do that they would not be pleasant in a financial sense,” he added without disseminating any detail. “I can do financial things that would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”
Trump last Friday threatened Russia until he reached an agreement with Ukraine. The Biden administration imposed hundreds of sanctions on Moscow during the conflict.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on Wednesday said that Russia is already “quite sanctioned”, since it was asked what pressure the administration would be ready to run.
“As far as I know, the United States has not provided Armaments to Russia,” Rubio said as he greatly avoided the investigation. “The United States is not providing assistance to Russia. Each sanction that has been imposed on Russia continues in its place … so my point is that no measures have been taken to relieve any of these things, these things continue to be in their place.”
“We do not believe it is constructive for me to be here today and start issuing threats about what we are going to do if Russia says no, hopefully they say yes,” said Rubio.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, speaks to the media during a fuel replenishment at Shannon airport in Shannon, Ireland, on March 12, 2025.
Saul Loeb/Pool through AP
Trump has also often praised his relationship with Putin, saying that he knows him “very well” and has refused to call him dictator despite using the term to describe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I think he wants Peace. I think he would tell me if he didn’t,” Trump said about the Russian leader in mid -February. “I trust him on this issue. I think he would like to see something happens.”
Last week, in an interview with Fox News, Trump said Putin was “more generous” and easier to work than Ukraine.
Now, the administration says that the ball is in the court of Russia after Ukraine agreed to an immediate one -month arrest in hostilities if Moscow did the same.
“We will see what your answer is,” Rubio said. “If your answer is yes, then we know that we have made real progress and there is a real possibility of peace. If your answer is no, it will be very unfortunate and then clarify your intentions.”
Patrick Reevell and Kelsey Walsh of ABC News contributed to this report.
