Donald Trump tells Vladimir Putin to end Ukraine war now: ‘Can do it the easy way, or hard way’

The new US President has issued a blunt demand to his Russian counterpart, warning him to make a deal with Ukraine – or else.

President Trump warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine quickly, or else face “high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions.”

Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday to double-down on his criticisms of Putin and Russia’s hurting economy, warning Moscow that things would only get worse if the war doesn’t end soon, reports the New York Post.

“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” Trump urged.

“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” he wrote.

“Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better,” he added. “It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL.” NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!”

The returning president vowed to end the war, which has been raging for nearly three years, within the first days of his administration.

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/AFP

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He’s said he would be willing to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work out a deal.

“I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin — and this despite the Radical Left’s Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process,” Trump added in his post.

The post comes a day after Trump criticised Putin for continuing the war effort despite reports that more than 700,000 Russians have been killed or wounded in the fighting, which has also caused Russia’s economy to plummet with inflation edging towards 10%.

“He can’t be thrilled,” Trump said. “He’s not doing so well. I mean, he’s grinding it out … it’s not making him look very good.”

“I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,” he added.

Trump noted that despite Moscow’s alleged silence, Zelensky was open to making a deal to end the war so long as it favoured Ukraine.

A man looks up at his apartment block after it was heavily damaged in a Russian attack earlier in the day, on January 22, 2025 in Kostyantynivka, Ukraine. Carl Court/Getty Images

Kyiv has previously stated that it would accept a diplomatic end to the war so-long as it opened a pathway for Ukraine to join NATO, which could effectively end Russia’s repeated annexation of its territories.

Moscow, however, has said Kyiv’s admission into NATO is a non-starter, which Trump has previously sympathised with.

In a Tuesday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin suggested he was open to talks with Trump on the future of the war, agreeing that a diplomatic end was the best solution so long as Russia’s needs were met.

“We hear the statements from Trump and members of his team about their desire to restore direct contact with Russia, which were halted through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration,” Putin said during Trump’s inauguration.

“We also hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent World War III. We certainly welcome such an approach and congratulate the U.S. president-elect on taking office,” he added.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Donald Trump tells Vladimir Putin to end Ukraine war now: ‘Can do it the easy way, or hard way’