Trump outlined the terms in a Saturday Truth Social post, saying he was “ready to do major Sanctions on Russia” once “all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA” and begin similar actions.
He added the alliance’s commitment to winning the war “has been far less than 100%” and called some members’ continued oil purchases “shocking.”
“If NATO does as I say, the war will end quickly, and all of those lives will be saved! If not, you are just wasting my time, and the time, energy, and money of the United States,” he wrote.
Trump paired the demand with a push for coordinated tariffs on Beijing. “I believe that [NATO sanctions on Russia], plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% tariffs on China, to be fully withdrawn after the war with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ending this deadly, but ridiculous war,” he said.
The remarks came as tensions rose after more than a dozen Russian drones entered NATO member Poland’s airspace on Wednesday.
Trump has repeatedly threatened further penalties on Russia. He has imposed a 25% import tax on goods from India over its purchases of Russian energy, but has not placed additional tariffs on China for the same reason.
Addressing diplomacy, Trump said a meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy remains elusive because the two leaders “hate each other so much they can hardly talk.”
“There will be talks; whether we call it a summit or a gathering […] I will probably have to bring them together,” he said, adding a session would occur “soon.”
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Source: The Guardian, PAP