KANANASKIS, Alberta — Donald Trump suggested he will not hit Russia with more sanctions at the G7 summit, saying Europeans should “do it first” and that “sanctions cost us a lot of money.”
The EU and U.K. are both pushing for more coordinated sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime at the Canada-hosted gathering of leaders, but the U.S. president has so far refused to sign up to fresh action.
When asked by POLITICO Monday whether he was united with Europe on new sanctions over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Trump said “well Europe is saying that, but they haven’t done it yet.”
“Let’s see them do it first,” he told reporters in a joint press appearance with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
He added: “When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money — a tremendous amount of money.
“It’s not just, let’s sign a document. You’re talking about billions and billions of dollars. Sanctions are not that easy. It’s not just a one-way street.”
The president said he wanted to keep trying to push forward stalled peace negotiations before hitting Russia with further punitive measures.
The EU is calling for a cut to the price cap on Russian oil — a key sanction against Putin — from $60 to $45.
The measure would further starve the Russian president of revenue to fight his war against Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday: “We must put more pressure on Russia to secure a real cease-fire, to bring Russia to the negotiating table and to end this war, sanctions are critical to that end.”
Starmer: Putin doesn’t hold all the cards
U.K. officials have said Starmer also privately backs the push for a lower oil price cap, although the British prime minister has not made that clear in public.
Starmer on Monday insisted Russia “doesn’t hold all the cards” in its war against Ukraine — in an apparent rebuke to Trump.
The British prime minister said his fellow leaders “should take this moment to increase economic pressure and show President Putin it is in his — and Russia’s — interests to demonstrate he is serious about peace.”
Starmer’s decision to reference Trump’s now-infamous attack line against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from their fractious Feb. 28 White House meeting — that he “doesn’t have the cards” — will likely be seen as an attempt to cajole the president into action. No.10 Downing Street pushed back at that characterization, however.
Starmer made the comments on Monday night while announcing he and other leaders planned to unveil fresh sanctions on Russia on Tuesday at the Canada summit. However, No. 10 declined to provide details of what the package contains.
Trump has become more publicly critical of Putin in previous weeks as the Russian president rains down fresh attacks on civilians across Ukraine.
The six other G7 leaders will also try to get Trump to sign a joint statement on de-escalating the Israel-Iran conflict.
Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met on the summit’s sidelines on Sunday night to discuss the conflict and other issues.
Trump told reporters on Monday at the summit that “Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late.”
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