Donald Trump threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs and other financial penalties if the war in Ukraine didn’t end soon.
At a meeting at the Oval Office with NATO Executive Director Mark Latte on Monday, the US president called Moscow “very unhappy” about the lack of progress towards dealings to end the conflict.
“We are very unhappy with Russia – I am,” Trump said. “I’m disappointed with President (Vladimir) Putin because I thought there was a deal two months ago.”
“If you don’t have a contract in 50 days, if you have around 100% tariffs, you’ll be doing very strict tariffs. The tariffs will be “biting” and “very strong.”
White House officials later said the US was ready to use “severe sanctions and tariffs” against Russia.
Washington can leverage its role at the heart of global finance to cut people and countries from the international economy through its vast sanctions programme.
Secondary tariffs or sanctions put pressure on Moscow by punishing third party entities, industries, or countries doing business with Russia.
In March, Trump announced that he would apply a 25% “secondary tariff” on US imports from countries that buy Venezuela oil.
He also raised the prospect of applying “secondary tariffs” to strike countries trading with Moscow, as he is increasingly unhappy with Putin’s incommunity at the Peace Conference.
“You can do tariffs, or you can do sanctions, they are both tools in his toolbox,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Monday afternoon.
He claimed that Trump had made the allegation, citing the conflict between India and Pakistan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ukrainian leader Voldimi Zelensky said, “I am grateful to President Trump that I am ready to protect the lives of our people.” He added:
The Kremlin did not respond immediately to Trump’s announcement. “Europeans will have to continue bombardment (to supply arms to Kiev)… The only beneficiary is the US defense industry,” wrote on social media, “The Europeans will have to continue fired (in order to supply arms to Kiev).
He added: “Over 50 days, it could change a lot with the battlefields and the moods of those in power in the US and NATO. But our moods are not affected at all.”
Trump also confirmed plans on Monday to send weapons to Ukraine, including the Patriot missile system.
The president said “billions of dollars of military equipment” would be purchased from the US by NATO allies in order to “be quickly distributed to the battlefield” in Ukraine.
Latte said Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada all hope to become part of the arms trade.
Trump said: “I’ve spoken with Germany and I’ve spoken with most of the large (NATO) countries. They’re really enthusiastic about this.”
The arms trade included “everything,” the president said. “It’s a patriot. That’s all about them. It completely complements the battery.”
Trump suggested that some patriots will come from Norway, saying that 17 patriot systems in one country are “preparing for shipments.”
Latte said this would be the “first wave” of weapons to Ukraine.
German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz said Trump took a “significant initiative” by allowing more weapons to be delivered to Ukraine.
German defense minister Boris Pistorius said he is confident the US will agree to a request to purchase two patriot air defense systems from Berlin.
“There are still some technical, logistical and financial questions to clarify, but we can solve all of them,” he said after a meeting with US Pete Hegses in Washington.
Pistorius also announced that Berlin had asked to purchase a US-made Tita missile system to serve as a deterrent to Russia. He said purchases could provide a stop gap solution until Europe develops its own equivalent system.
He said it remains unclear whether Trump will proceed with plans by the former Biden administration in the US to temporarily station German mid-range missiles from 2026.
The Patriot Interceptor missile is extremely important for Ukraine’s defense against Russian air force attacks. The US system is the only system in Kiev’s armory that can shoot down Russian ballistic missiles. Latte stressed that the Ukrainian arms trade takes into account the US’s own stockpile.
Recommended
Moscow has been increasing aerial bombardment in Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. Hundreds of Iran-designed suicide drones, along with cruises and ballistic missiles, are targeted at civilian and military infrastructure.
Ukraine’s air defenses are lacking, forcing the military to make difficult decisions about which incoming weapons to fire down. Kyiv has a high interception rate (often around 70%), with dozens of drones and several missiles overcoming air defense prevention in each attack.
According to Ukraine’s UN Human Rights Surveillance Mission, the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years was recorded in June, killing 232 people and 1,343 injured.
Additional Reports by Max Seddon of Berlin
