Trump says he will not impose more sanctions on Russia

US President Donald Trump told reporters that he will not increase sanctions on Russia “because there’s a chance” of progress.

“Because I think there’s a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you could also make it much worse. But there could be a time where that’s going to happen,” Trump said, according to CNN.

Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 19 for two hours.

Following the call with Putin, President Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden that he believes the Russian leader wants peace with Ukraine.

“I do,” the president told CNN, when asked if he thinks Putin wants peace.

The president repeated “I do,” when another reporter asked if he trusts Putin.

And in remarks from the Rose Garden, Trump told an audience: “I think some progress has been made” from the call.

“It’s a terrible situation going on over there — 5,000 young people every single week are being killed, so hopefully we did something,” Trump said, according to CNN. “We also spoke to the heads of most of the European nations, and we’re trying to get that whole thing wrapped up. What a shame that it ever started in the first place.”

In a post to his Truth Social platform following the call, Trump wrote, “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”