File photo of Trump with Putin
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on Russia if it fails to reach a peace deal with Ukraine in 50 days.
Trump said Moscow’s economy would be hit with 100 percent tariffs while secondary sanctions on its trading partners would kick in.
The US president spoke on Monday and doubled down on his threats on Tuesday in a meeting with Mark Rutte, NATO secretary- general.
Trump said he was very disappointed and unhappy with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, adding that he thought they had made deals about “four times, and here we are still talking.”
Advertisement
“I thought we should have had a deal done a long time ago, but it just keeps going on and on and on,” he added.
Trump has been pushing to end the war in Ukraine since assuming office in January, in efforts to fulfil a campaign promise he made repeatedly while seeking re-election.
In March, he threatened a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil in Russia if a ceasefire deal was not made in a month.
Advertisement
Speaking during his meeting with Rutte, Trump said the US would send “top-of-the-line” weapons to Ukraine in an operation coordinated by NATO and paid for by its members.
The value of the weapons amounts to billions of dollars.
Trump said Russia’s economy needs to get “back on track,” adding that Moscow has “tremendous potential” and that it should use its resources for trade rather than a war.
Meanwhile, Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said Russia would “certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington”.
Advertisement
