No winners in conflict, no losers in peace

In a social media post on Friday, US President Donald Trump said he is "strongly considering" levying new sanctions and tariffs on Russia.

Considering that he issued the same warning shortly after he took office in January before making public the United States' about-face in its stance on the Ukraine crisis, Trump's repetition of the same old warning should serve to reflect new pressure has been quickly building on his shoulder after his dramatic showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Feb 28.

After Trump's post, Kevin Hassett, director of the US National Economic Council, told reporters that "President Trump is adamant that we need to get everybody to the table, and we could do that with carrots, and we could do that with sticks".