The question from the BBC interviewer was short and to the point. Considering how Vladimir Putin fed him a steady stream of bs about a possible peace deal with Ukraine, might President Donald Trump be ready to admit his “very good relationship” with the Russian president is ending?

President Donald Trump may have expected a Russian shudder of fear to greet his threat of “very severe tariffs” on the country if it didn’t agree a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says Republicans will vote on a Russia sanctions bill once Trump approves it, as pressure mounts on Moscow to negotiate peace in Ukraine.

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's 50-day deadline for Russia to end the Ukraine war and avoid sanctions eased concerns about any immediate supply disruption. Brent crude futures were down 15 cents at $69.

That included a Monday joint statement from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal calling Trump’s threat of ramped-up economic penalties if Russia doesn’t cut a peace deal in next 50 days “a real executive hammer to drive the parties to the negotiating table.”

In response to the escalating threat, President Trump confirmed that the U.S. will send additional Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine. He noted that the European Union would finance the purchase of what he described as "various pieces of very sophisticated" U.S. weaponry.

And so it was, just two days after Donald Trump revealed he had decided to lift his administration’s pause on the supply of US-made weapons to Ukraine, that Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov,

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has claimed the Kremlin could launch "preemptive strikes" on Western nations if they escalate the war in Ukraine just days after United States President Donald Trump demanded a ceasefire.