President Donald Trump on Monday threatened Russia with 'severe' tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine weeks after he promised to resolve the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin, when he invaded Ukraine three years ago.
Trump has often criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for allowing the war to happen but more recently has expressed growing frustration toward Putin.
Recently, there were doubts about Trump’s support for sending weapons to Ukraine after the Pentagon temporarily stopped shipments, worried that US supplies were running low, but he now assured that “billions and billions” of dollars of US military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine.
What Did Trump Say?
Donald Trump expressing his frustration towards Moscow said, “It just keeps going on and on and on,” as he continues, “Every night, people are dying.”
Trump said he would implement “severe tariffs” unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days.
He provided few details on how they would be implemented, but he described them as secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.
“I use trade for a lot of things,” Trump added. “But it’s great for settling wars.”
Trump also said that European allies would buy “billions and billions” of dollars of US military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine, replenishing the besieged country’s supplies of weapons.
The plan includes Patriot air defense systems, which are very important for Ukraine as it tries to protect itself from Russian drones and missiles.
He made the announcement in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine. He said “speed is of the essence here,” and he said the shipments should make Putin “reconsider” peace negotiations.
Trump On Putin Earlier
Trump has boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin for a long time and after taking office in January repeatedly asserted that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a “dictator without elections.”
But over the course of time, Trump has started to look at the situation differently, in April, Trump urged Putin to “STOP!” launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” as the bombardments continued.
Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday.
Zelenskyy said he had “a productive conversation” with Kellogg about strengthening Ukrainian air defenses, joint arms production and purchasing U.S. weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
“We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
