The Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. on Sunday said “all of Ukraine prays” for the Friday meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to be “effective and to have great results.”<\/p>\n
“So yes, we want Putin to stop, and we really are hopeful that this push from President Trump, and the sanction packages which are on the table, and secondary sanctions which are already implemented against those who help Russia, will convince President Putin that this is time for him to finally stop his aggression,” Ambassador Oksana Markarova told CBS News’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”<\/p>\n
Markarova said she appreciated Trump pushing to end the war, and Vice President Vance’s recent trip to England to discuss Trump\u2019s efforts toward peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She later reiterated Trump raising tariffs on India<\/a> as something that made her feel “confident that the U.S. will be coming from the position of strength, you know, peace through strength, and that will allow us, together, to find a solution to stop Russia’s aggression.”<\/p>\n Last Wednesday, Trump announced\u00a0he would raise tariffs<\/a> on India by 25 percent because of its buying of Russian oil, bringing the total tariffs the president has placed on the Southeast Asian country to 50 percent.<\/p>\n The president also said last week he will\u00a0meet with<\/a> Putin in Alaska on Friday, hosting him for talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President\u00a0Volodymyr Zelensky is not currently expected to attend.<\/p>\n However, earlier on Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to NATO\u00a0Matthew Whitaker\u00a0said \u201cit\u2019s possible\u201d that Zelensky\u00a0attends\u00a0the upcoming meeting<\/a> between\u00a0Trump\u00a0and Putin\u00a0in Alaska. Markarova did not confirm if Zelensky would be showing up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n