By Darya Korsunskaya, Guy Faulconbridge and Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has grown increasingly concerned about distortions in Russia's wartime economy, just as Donald Trump pushes for an end to the Ukraine conflict,

Kremlin hard-liners are calling for the dismemberment of Ukraine, while Trump is threatening new sanctions if Putin doesn’t come to the negotiating table.

His inauguration speech was loudest in its silence on Ukraine. But hours later, US President Donald Trump laid bare – in a trademark casual, rambling fashion – his position over the war in Ukraine. And it was tougher on the Kremlin than you might expect.

Donald Trump pledged to end the conflict in Ukraine, but the war has proved harder to solve than he once thought. Now, he says he'll sanction Russia.

Trump has the levers to force Putin to end the Russia-Ukraine war promptly if he dispenses with the Biden Administration’s tepid, inconsistent economic pressure.

President Donald Trump has threatened further sanctions against Russia if Vladimir Putin does not agree to negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said he was talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and would have a conversation with his Russian counterpart "very soon," Reuters reported.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.

In a post to Truth Social, President Trump threatened to hit Russia with tariffs if Vladimir Putin refuses to make a deal on the Ukraine war.

Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, has criticized Trump's inauguration speech, the executive orders he signed, and more.

Trump said on Sunday: "I will end the war in Ukraine, stop the chaos in the Middle East and prevent World War III from happening."