Trump gives Russia 50 days to make Ukraine deal or face 100% tariffs
US President Donald Trump meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on Jul 16, 2018. (File photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday (Jul 14) to end its Ukraine war within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions as he laid out plans for new infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO.
Trump said he was "very, very unhappy" with President Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader's refusal to end his three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
"We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 per cent," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The Republican added that they would be "secondary tariffs" that target Russia's remaining trade partners - seeking to cripple Moscow's ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.
Trump and Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the US, including Patriot anti-missile batteries, and then send them to Ukraine.
"This is really big," said Rutte, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Trump's long-held complaints that the US is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid Ukraine.
Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine, added the NATO chief.
"If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking ... I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously," said Rutte.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he had spoken with Trump and was "grateful" for the arms deal.
"VERY LONG TIME"
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would play a "decisive role" in the new weapons plan.
But European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Trump's sanctions deadline was too far into the future. "Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day," she said.
Trump attempted a rapprochement with Putin shortly after starting his second term, in a bid to honour his election campaign pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
His pivot towards Putin sparked fears in Kyiv that he was about to sell out Ukraine, especially after Trump and his team berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb 28.
A DIFFERENT POLICY
Political science professor Steven Fish from the University of California, Berkeley said Trump’s decision to approve the sale of arms to Ukraine is different from the policy of former US president Joe Biden’s administration, as the US is getting paid for supplying these weapons.
“This is a shift. The United States was giving Ukraine its weapons from our stockpiles for free before. Now Trump is selling these weapons … to the Europeans who will then supply them to the Ukrainians,” he said.
Fish told CNA’s Asia First programme that the new arrangement makes it “look better and sound better” for Trump.
“He doesn't feel like America is being ripped off anymore,” he said.
Fish noted that with these arms to be purchased by NATO and supplied to Kyiv, Trump can tell himself and his supporters that they are “profiting from it … not being taken advantage of”.
“And for Trump at least, creating that appearance is extremely important,” he added.
