US President Donald Trump on Wednesday painted a positive picture of the talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war, saying ‘great progress was made’.
Despite Trump hailing the talks with Russia, US officials said sanctions would still be imposed on countries trading with Moscow, including India.
"Great progress was made!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that he had briefed some European allies on the talks between Witkoff and Putin in Moscow.
"Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come," Trump's post read.
Ending the Russia-Ukraine war was one of Donald Trump's top campaign promises. He had said that he would end the war, which has been going on since February 2022, within 24 hours of taking office. But it is still raging on even after months of the Republican leader taking over at the White House.
Trump has issued a new deadline of Friday for Russia to make progress in the talks to end the war. He said that Moscow would face fresh sanctions if the deadline is missed.
Donald Trump's tariff hike on India for buying Russian oil
{{/usCountry}}Trump has issued a new deadline of Friday for Russia to make progress in the talks to end the war. He said that Moscow would face fresh sanctions if the deadline is missed.
Donald Trump's tariff hike on India for buying Russian oil
{{/usCountry}}Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered steeper tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi's buying of Russian oil.
The old tariff rate, which kicked in earlier this month, was 25 percent on the import of goods from India to the United States. It has now been hiked by another 25 percent.
Minutes after Trump said progress has been made in talks with Russia to end the Ukraine war, a senior US official said that "secondary sanctions" were still expected to be implemented on Friday.
These sanctions target Russia's remaining trade partners such as China and India, seeking to impede Moscow's ability to survive already sweeping Western penalties.
Targeting these countries is being justified to stifle Russian exports, but it would also risk significant international disruption.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine since February 2022 has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed swathes of the country and forced millions to flee their homes.