Reference News, August 23 report: According to the UK's The Guardian website on August 23, US President Trump once again threatened that if the Ukraine issue is not resolved peacefully, he will impose sanctions on Russia. Moscow said that there are "no plans for a meeting between Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy."

According to the report, Trump said a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska: "I will make a decision about our actions, which will be a very important decision, whether to take large-scale sanctions or large-scale tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say 'This is your war.' " This clearly indicates Trump's frustration with Moscow.

Although Trump expressed frustration over the slow progress of potential peace agreements, he still showed White House reporters photos of his meeting with Putin on the red carpet in Alaska, and said that Putin hopes to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in the United States.

According to Associated Press on August 22, at the beginning of this week, US President Trump announced that he had achieved an diplomatic breakthrough in promoting the peace between Russia and Ukraine, and claimed that he was arranging direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy. Four days later, Trump's optimism dropped. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov clearly stated on August 22 that before Ukraine meets the necessary conditions previously proposed by Moscow to end the conflict, Putin would not meet with Zelenskyy.

This is a painful setback for Trump. He had previously boasted that his diplomatic lightning campaign had undeniably advanced the process of reaching an agreement, which would bring an end to the conflict he had promised to end on his first day in office.

Trump said on August 22 that if direct dialogue is not on the agenda, he expects to decide his next step in two weeks. (Translation/Julie)

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