US president Donald Trump has threatened “very severe” tariffs against Russia within 50 days if Moscow does not agree a peace deal, while confirming a defence export agreement with NATO to send US-made weapons to Ukraine’s defence.
In a televised Oval Office meeting with NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump confirmed that European allies would purchase US-manufactured goods that will be sent to Ukraine.
The idea was first pitched by Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, at a NATO summit two weeks ago, according to Axios.
Secondary tariffs
The news confirms a major U-turn by Trump on Russia and Ukraine, with the president repeating that he is “very disappointed” with Russian president Vladmir Putin.
Trump had previously hosted Zelensky for a widely televised meeting, where he and US vice president JD Vance openly criticised the Ukrainian president before turning him away from the White House.
The US has also withheld military aid and signalled that it might wind down the Russian sanctions regime, prompting EU leaders to double down on their support for Ukraine.
Trump has also spoken of his respect for Putin in the past but appears to have grown frustrated after months of futile talks with Moscow.
‘Very unhappy’
On Russia, Trump says “we are very, very unhappy with them”.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days tariffs, about 100%, you call them secondary tariffs, you know what that means.”
Secondary sanctions are measures that target third parties that trade with the sanctioned nation.
During the 2024 presidential election, Trump had promised a quick end to the war, expressing frustration that Putin appeared to be misleading him during negotiations.
“I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done, and I always hang up and say, ‘Well, that was a nice phone call’, and then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city.
“… And after that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn’t mean anything.”
Big deal
Trump also announced that he would send additional Patriot anti-aircraft and interceptor missiles to Ukraine, funded by NATO allies.
Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, said that Ukraine would “get its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment”.
“This is really big. This is really big”, Rutte said of the deal.
Open to talk?
On the prospect of an EU-US deal to avoid tariffs, Trump said that he was always ready to negotiate, despite recently threatening 30% tariffs on EU goods.
“We’re always open to talk. We are open to talk, including to Europe.
“In fact, they’re coming over. They’d like to talk.”
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