KEY POINTS
- Trump says US sanctions on Russia depend on NATO halting all Russian oil purchases.
- US President urges NATO members to impose their own sanctions on Moscow.
- Trump proposes 50–100% tariffs on China until the Ukraine war ends.
- Warns the war will drag on if NATO ignores his demands, calling inaction a “waste of time”.
- Has already imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods over Russian oil imports.
- Earlier, Trump had asked the EU to hit China and India with up to 100% tariffs.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was ready to sanction Moscow, but on the condition that all NATO countries agree to completely halt purchases of Russian oil and implement their own sanctions to end its war in Ukraine.
The US President also suggested members of the transatlantic alliance consider slapping tariffs of 50 percent to 100 percent on China as a way to help end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, which he described as a letter to all NATO nations and the world.
Trump has repeatedly threatened Russia with additional sanctions as a way to hit at the revenue Moscow needs for the war with Ukraine.
But so far, he has failed to follow through, frustrating Kyiv.
The US President, who met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last month at a summit in Alaska, branded NATO nations’ purchase of Russian oil “shocking” and said it weakens their bargaining power over Moscow.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when?”
“I believe that (NATO sanctions on Russia), plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR,” Trump said.
“China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
If the 32-member alliance “does as I say, the WAR will end quickly,” Trump said. “If not, you are just wasting my time.”
This follows Trump’s earlier threats of sanctions on Moscow and secondary sanctions on countries buying its oil, such as top buyers China and India, if no progress is made to end the war in Ukraine.
The US President has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing its continued imports of Russian oil, but has not taken similar action against China.
Earlier, Trump had called on the European Union (EU) to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% to force Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
He made the demand during a meeting between US and EU officials last Tuesday while discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia.
