Trump Warns Ukraine: ‘Don’t Target Moscow’; Slovakia Blocks Sanctions (Worthy News War Briefing)
By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump has urged Ukraine not to target Moscow with long-range missiles despite suffering death and destruction following massive Russian strikes.
“No, he should not target Moscow,” Trump said overnight, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, he reminded Russian President Vladimir Putin of the 50-day deadline to reach a peace settlement over Ukraine. “I don’t think it’s a long time,” Trump warned.
Asked what options he was expecting to have if Russia doesn’t respond to the ultimatum, he said: “A lot of opinions change very rapidly. Might not be 50 days, might be much sooner than 50 days.”
Trump also confirmed that the first air defense Patriot missile deliveries for Ukraine, via Germany, are “already being shipped.”
But Russia appears to be undeterred in its attacks, with Ukraine’s Air Force reporting early Wednesday that “400 drones and one ballistic missile” were launched, mainly striking three cities, including Kharkiv, Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, and Vinnytsia.
At least two people were reported dead, with at least 12 injured.
SLOVAKIA BLOCKING SANCTIONS
Despite the ongoing violence, Slovakia effectively vetoed the adoption of new European Union sanctions as they would include phasing out Russian energy deliveries to the EU.
Slovakia and neighboring Hungary are heavily dependent on Russian natural gas and oil imports. Bratislava’s support for the EU sanctions would leave Hungary’s pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán more isolated.
Orbán, who faces a major opposition challenge in the 2026 elections, has touted one of Europe’s lowest utility prices as a direct result of what he calls his “anti-war” policies, achieved by reaching out to the Kremlin.
Yet, a clearly frustrated EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, made clear that tougher sanctions against Moscow are necessary. Russia’s bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine,” she complained.
“All this shows that Russia does not want peace.”
Kallas then confirmed that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions, saying: “I’m really sad that we didn’t reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The [EU’s executive European] Commission has delivered what they asked for. Now, the ball is in Slovakia’s court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months.”
She stressed that “Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep raising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.”
TRANS-ATLANTIC COOPERATION
Kallas added that she welcomes Trump’s announcements, but said the EU “would like to see the US share the burden,” referring to Trump’s attempts to make Europe pay more for supporting Ukraine.
“America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously,” she stressed.
“The only way to get [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to end this war is to force his hand,” the policy chief added.
Yet well-informed Kremlin sources say Putin isn’t in a hurry to make a peace deal after capturing about one-fifth of Ukraine in a lengthy, bloody war.
Putin seeks guarantees that the NATO military alliance won’t expand further eastwards and recognition of the territories annexed by Russia, Worthy News learned.
Russian military forces now control most of the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk, and parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia following invasions in 2014 and 2022.
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