US President Donald Trump has said he is ready to move to a second phase of sanctions against Russia, just hours after Moscow carried out the largest airstrike in Ukraine since the start of the war.
According to international media, at least four people were killed, including a mother and a three-month-old baby, while over 40 others were injured after a massive bombing by Russian military drones overnight.
Trump was asked by reporters, while on his way to the final of the US Open tennis tournament, if he was ready for a new round of punishments against Moscow. He answered briefly: “Yes.”
His statement came shortly after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that increased economic pressure from the United States and Europe could force Russian President Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected Putin's invitation to travel to Moscow and discuss peace, calling it an attempt to "postpone the meeting" and buy time. Zelensky stressed that Putin is also trying to manipulate relations with the United States. On the other hand, the Kremlin leader has downplayed the importance of a possible meeting with Zelensky, but later left open the possibility that it could happen, provided that it takes place only in Moscow.
