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Investing.com -- President Donald Trump is taking a firmer stance against Russia as he seeks to fulfill his promise of securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, according to Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, Reuters reported.
Volker, who also served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO and was Trump’s Ukraine adviser in his first term, told Reuters that Trump had challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin early in his second term to choose between “the easy way or the hard way” to end the war.
However, with little progress from Moscow after 100 days in office, Trump is increasingly opting for the “hard way,” Volker reportedly said during a security forum in Kyiv.
Now more aligned with Kyiv, the U.S. is putting pressure on Putin by exposing his unwillingness to end the conflict, Volker noted.
He urged Congress to bolster Trump’s approach with new secondary sanctions targeting major Russian entities.
Despite a rocky start to Trump’s renewed relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Reuters said ties have recently improved.
Last month, both nations signed a minerals deal in Washington that grants the U.S. preferred access to Ukrainian mineral projects, a politically valuable move for Trump, according to Reuters.
While military support is not currently a central topic, Volker said the deal gives the U.S. a strategic interest in Ukraine’s stability and future. “It doesn’t spell out what kind of obligations or commitments the U.S. would make toward Ukraine’s security,” he added, “but that doesn’t prevent anything either.”