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.

President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a pair of steps intended to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, including funneling new weapons to Kyiv and threatening economic punishment on Moscow if peace isn’t reached in 50 days,

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.

Donald Trump again expressed his irritation over a split in his MAGA base over his administration’s contention that there’s no there there when it comes to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday,

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.”

Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened "biting" secondary tariffs of 100% on the buyers of Russian exports unless there is a peace deal in 50 days.

Asked if he trusted Putin, Mr Trump took a lengthy pause before saying: "I trust almost nobody to be honest with you.