Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Increasingly frustrated with his Russian counterpart Vladimi Putin, US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to impose stiff financial penalties on Russia if it does not end hostilities with Ukraine within 50 days, even as he pledged fresh weapons supplies for Kyiv.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent,” he said during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, the media reported.
Trump said the levies would come in the form of “secondary tariffs,” without providing details. He has previously used the term to describe duties imposed on countries for trading with America’s foes.
Asked later if the US President meant to refer to the more widely known tool “secondary sanctions,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that sanctions and tariffs were “both tools in his toolbox” and that “you can do either one.”
A White House official said Russia could face both measures if it fails to sign a ceasefire deal by early September.
Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said the planned action effectively represents secondary sanctions on countries buying oil from Russia. “It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil,” he told reporters. “And it really is going to, I think, dramatically impact the Russian economy.”
The threats echo punishment spelled out in a bipartisan bill in US Congress that would impose 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas. Trump also vowed earlier this year to tariff imports from countries that buy Venezuelan oil.
He did not, however, elaborate on the powers he would use to impose secondary tariffs, and said he wasn’t sure “we need” US Congress to act to move forward but the legislation “could be very useful.”
His comments mark the latest signal of Trump’s growing impatience with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, which has dragged on since February 24, 2022. But the arrangement also risks Moscow continuing its barrage on the battlefield in Kyiv, in the next 50 days, before it returns to talks.
Trump said the US was sending a “top-of-the-line weapons” package that includes Patriot air defense batteries. NATO member-states will pay for the weapons to be sent to Ukraine, he said.
“We’re not buying it, but we will manufacture it,” Trump said. “They’re going to be paying for it.”
Much of what Kyiv will receive will depend on Europe’s ability and willingness to make the purchases. Ukraine needs air defense systems and drone interceptors as well as a constant supply of artillery shells and missiles as Moscow unleashes record air strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday in a post on X that he had spoken with Trump, who briefed him on his discussions with Rutte.
“We discussed the necessary means and solutions with the President to provide better protection for people from Russian attacks and to strengthen our positions. We are ready to work as productively as possible to achieve peace,” Zelenskiy said. “We agreed to catch up more often by phone and coordinate our steps in the future as well.”
Trump hailed his fresh announcement as a major shift in course as he looks to push President Putin to end the hostilities. But the details of the decision also reflect Trump’s priorities: It won’t cost the US anything and Trump is not dedicating any new US funding to Ukraine, at least for now.
“I’m disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there,” Trump said.
The White House didn’t immediately explain how Trump envisioned the secondary tariff program working. Oil fell after Trump made his threat, with West Texas Intermediate down 2.1 percent to settle below USD 67 a barrel.
The US President’s recent remarks showed his willingness to deal with Putin is being tested. Trump directed most of his ire at Zelenskiy during the first months of his second term, beginning January 20, but has grown increasingly frustrated that Putin is still refusing his ceasefire demands.
Many of the details of the new weapons cache for Ukraine also remained unclear after Trump’s meeting with Rutte.
The NATO chief said the European security bloc would coordinate with allies to fulfil Ukraine’s military needs including air defense equipment, missiles and ammunition. Germany will play a major part, alongside Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands and Canada, according to Rutte.
Hours later, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who was also in Washington, said Germany had asked the US to make two more Patriot missile batteries available for Ukraine, and he and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had promised to resolve any outstanding issues “quickly and quietly.”
He said that meant Germany expected to pay about USD 2 billion. Berlin also plans to buy the mid-range Typhon missile system, he said.
Rutte said the deal with Trump will allow allies to send weapons to Ukraine more quickly, with the US later backfilling the allies’ supplies. The agreement would be “just the first wave” and more is to come, he added.
“This is again Europeans stepping up,” Rutte said, adding that Putin should “take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously.”