by Camilla JessenMSN.com (April 11, 2025)
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/trump-s-final-warning-to-putin-kremlin-has-weeks-to-stop-war-or-pay-the-price/ar-AA1CJEGN?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=4c3da4eb9bfd47c8abf35b617c09e8b7&ei=5The Trump administration is tightening the screws on the Kremlin, warning that a failure to reach a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine by the end of April will trigger a new wave of U.S. sanctions.
According to a report by Axios, citing sources familiar with the talks, the ultimatum has already been relayed to Moscow through Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 11.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the urgency last week, stating the U.S. isn’t willing to wait “months” for Putin’s decision. “Weeks” is all the Kremlin has, he emphasized during an April 4 statement.
So far, multiple rounds of diplomacy have produced little.
Russian and American envoys have met face-to-face at least six times in the past two months, including two meetings last week alone. Still, concrete progress remains elusive.
According to The Moscow Times, during talks in Saudi Arabia in late March, Russian negotiators demanded the full administrative territory of four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson.
Such demands have reportedly hardened the U.S. stance, with Trump’s team now exploring broader sanctions — including targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet” involved in covert oil shipments....