Washington: Frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not ending the war with Ukraine, President Donald Trump today said that the US will impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if there is no peace deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal within 50 days. It’s very simple, And they’ll be at 100 per cent.”
“We are very unhappy, I am, with Russia,” the President explained. Trump reiterated that he had called up Putin several times. “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 I say, ‘That’s strange.’ And after that happens three or four times, you say the talk doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
“He is, I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” Trump said of Putin, adding, “but he didn’t fool me.” “Ultimately, talk doesn’t work; it’s got to be action, it’s got to be results,” Trump said.
“It’s actually more now, mostly soldiers but a lot of people in cities and towns that are getting blown up to it’s a horrible war and it should be stopped. And so if it’s not done, if we don’t have an agreement in 50 days, that’s what we’re doing secondary tariffs and they’re biting and I hope we don’t get to the point where we do, but I I’ve been hearing so much talk. It’s all talk. It’s all talk and then missiles go into Kyiv and kill 60 people. It’s got to stop,” Trump said.
Announcing a deal under which NATO will buy arms from the US and then distribute them to Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia, Trump said, “The purpose of this is to say that this is a very big deal we’ve made today. This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment is going to be purchased from the United States going to NATO etc. And that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield, Ukraine will take it up. we’re going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.We, the United States, will not be making any payment; we’re not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and they’re going to be paying for it.”
Rutte said those countries will, in turn, send weapons to Ukraine to replenish their depleted stockpiles.
Rutte added that increased military spending is also beneficial to Europe, but stressed that the pledge by NATO members to increase their defence budgets to at least 5 per cent of GDP is “the biggest foreign policy success” of US President Donald Trump.
