Trump refuses to meet Putin unless he is “serious” about reaching an agreement on Ukraine news

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will not hold any talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, unless the latter shows “seriousness” in reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on his way to South Korea to attend the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, scheduled to be held on October 31 and November 1, “I have to know that we will reach an agreement… I will not waste my time.”

He added, “I have always had a wonderful friendship with Vladimir Putin, but this matter was very disappointing.”

On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions on the two largest Russian oil companies, while Trump complained that his talks with Putin regarding the conflict in Ukraine “did not produce any results.”

The European Union also imposed severe sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sectors, coinciding with US sanctions.

Trump had refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia for several months, but his patience ran out after it was not possible to hold a new summit with Putin in Budapest.

Despite this, the US President expressed his hope that the sanctions imposed on Rosneft and Lukoil would be short-lived and that the war in Ukraine would be put to an end.

Putin acknowledged that the sanctions were “serious”, but stressed that they were not enough to cause significant damage to the Russian economy, noting that they were “an unfriendly act… that does not strengthen Russian-American relations, which have only just begun to recover,” while confirming his continued openness to dialogue with Trump.