President Trump is turning up the heat on Russian President Vladimir Putin in his first days in power, seeking to pressure Russia’s leader to come to the negotiating table for a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

A little more than 48 hours since returning to the White House, Trump said Putin is “destroying his country” with the nearly three-year war against Kyiv and threatened increased sanctions on Russia and its enablers if a deal is not quickly reached.

He has qualified his threats with flattery, saying that he loves the Russian people and has “always had a very good relationship with President Putin.”

“I’m not looking to hurt Russia,” Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social on Wednesday. “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.”

The posts are an opening salvo in Trump’s efforts to show that his “peace through strength” policy can end Europe’s biggest land war in almost a century.

The president has seen some early diplomatic successes in the Middle East. He dispatched his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas in the last week of the Biden administration.

But the president has said that resolving........

© The Hill