The President of the United States, Donald Trump told Russia on Monday to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO.
Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader’s refusal to end the deadly conflict.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The Republican added that they would be “secondary tariffs” that target Russia’s remaining trade partners — seeking to impede Moscow’s ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.
Russia’s top trading partner last year was China, accounting for about 34 percent, followed distantly by India, Turkey and Belarus, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.
Trump and Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States — including Patriot anti-missile batteries — and send them to Ukraine.
“This is really big,” said Rutte, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Trump’s long-held complaints that the United States is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid Ukraine.
Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine, added the NATO chief.
“If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking… I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously,” said Rutte.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Trump and was “grateful” for the arms deal.In a BBC interview published Tuesday, Trump expressed disappointment with Putin.
