Donald Trump has threatened Russia "and other participating countries" with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if Vladimir Putin refuses to strike a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
The US president used a post on Truth Social to warn Moscow "we can do it the easy way, or the hard way" and called on Mr Putin to "settle now" or face "high levels" of tariffs.
He did not specify which countries he believed to be participating but named the Russian president directly in his post.
"If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries," the newly re-elected president said.
"Let's get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better," Mr Trump wrote.
"It's time to 'MAKE A DEAL.' NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!"
During the presidential election, Mr Trump had vowed to bring the conflict to an end within 24 hours of re-entering the White House.
However, his pick for Ukraine peace envoy, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News last week that the new administration was aiming at a timeline closer to 100 days.
The post signalled that Washington is prepared to ramp up economic sanctions if Mr Putin does not reach a settlement with Kyiv.
"I'm not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin," Mr Trump said, underlining the Soviet Union's pivotal role in ending World War II.
He added: "All of that being said, I'm going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War!"
"IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE."
In response, Russia's deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said Moscow would have to see what U.S. President Donald Trump thought a "deal" to end the war meant.
"It's not merely the question of ending the war," Mr Polyanskiy told Reuters. "It's first and foremost the question of addressing root causes of Ukrainian crisis."
He continued: "So we have to see what does the 'deal' mean in President Trump's understanding. He is not responsible for what the U.S. has been doing in Ukraine since 2014, making it 'anti-Russia' and preparing for the war with us, but it is in his power now to stop this malicious policy."
Window of opportunity
On Tuesday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Institute for US and Canadian Studies in Moscow that there was a "window of opportunity" to do deal with the incoming US president.
"Compared to the hopelessness in every aspect of the previous White House chief (President Joe Biden), there is a window of opportunity today, albeit a small one," Mr Ryabkov said.
"It's therefore important to understand with what and whom we will have to deal, how best to build relations with Washington, how best to maximise opportunities and minimise risks."
He was quoted by the TASS state news agency as saying that Russia was making preparations for contacts between Mr Putin and Mr Trump but that nothing has been agreed upon yet.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that any peace deal brokered between Ukraine and Russia would require "at least" 200,000 European peacekeepers to ensure that Moscow did not launch a fresh assault on the country.
"From all the Europeans? 200,000, it's a minimum. It's a minimum, otherwise it's nothing," he said. He also dismissed the prospect of Kyiv bowing to Kremlin demands and reducing Ukraine's army to a fifth of its current 800,000-strong size.
Tusk says EU must 'be armed'
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has told EU lawmakers that the bloc cannot rely on the US to defend it and must boost military spending.
He told the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday that Russia had to be deterred from targeting any more of its neighbours.
"Ask not of America what it can do for our security. Ask yourselves what we can do for our own security," he said, paraphrasing a quote from John F Kennedy's inaugural address in 1961.
He urged the 27-nation bloc to "take control" of its own security and identify its weaknesses. "If Europe is to survive, it must be armed," he said.
The Biden administration had already heaped heavy sanctions on thousands of entities in Russia's banking, defence, manufacturing, energy, technology and other sectors since the conflict began in February 2022.
Earlier this month, the US Treasury hit Russia's energy revenues with its hardest sanctions yet, targeting oil and gas producers Gazprom Neft SIBM.MM and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that are part of the so-called dark fleet of tankers aimed at evading other Western trade curbs.
The US stopped importing Russian oil after its invasion, but still imports some precious metals, including palladium used in automotive catalytic converters.
As for other participants, the Biden administration had imposed sanctions against entities in China, North Korea and Iran for aiding Russia's war effort.
ABC/wires
