Key points
- Comments mark a shift in Trump’s tone toward Russia
- Trump threatens to impose tariffs on oil coming out of Russia
- China, Turkey, Brazil and India top importers of Russian oil products
- US president angry with Putin for attacking Zelensky’s credibility: NBC News
ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump has said he is “very angry” and “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin after weeks of attempting to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault – which it might not be… I am going to put secondary tariffs… on all oil coming out of Russia,” he said in an NBC News interview.
The US president said he was angry with Putin for attacking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s credibility, and threatened to impose a 50 per cent tariff on countries buying Russian oil if he did not agree to a ceasefire.
Trump’s tone
According to BBC News, the comments mark a shift in Trump’s tone toward Putin and Russia.
NBC’s Kristen Welker said Trump had called her to express his fury over Putin questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s future as a leader — something that Trump himself has done.
AFP reported that Putin on Friday called for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine, which could effectively push out Zelenskyy.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Oil imports
According to NBC News, former US president Joe Biden banned Russian oil imports shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Since then, the amount of Russian oil imported to the United States has plummeted, to only 10,000 barrels of Russian crude oil and petroleum products in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Trump similarly announced “secondary tariffs” on Venezuela, saying on Truth Social that the tariffs would be placed on countries that bought oil and gas from Venezuela.
A few of the top importers of Russian oil products include China, Turkey, Brazil and India, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
