United States President Donald Trump on Monday issued a warning to Russia, calling for ending its war against Ukraine.
Trump warned of “severe tariffs” if there was no deal on the issue in 50 days. “…if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent,” Trump said.
The US President said that these would be “secondary tariffs” targeting Russia's remaining trade partners.
Trump, who met NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House, said he was “very, very unhappy”.
This is in the wake of Trump's apparent frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has escalated massive-scale drone attacks on Ukraine in the last few weeks.
“I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy,” Trump said about Putin on Monday.
The US President had previously indicated that he would issue a "major statement" about Russia on Monday.
At the same time, Trump's Ukraine and Russia special envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
Trump has confirmed that the US is shipping Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine to counter Russian air attacks. He stated that the European Union would compensate the US for "pieces of very sophisticated" equipment being delivered to Ukraine.
While the EU is not allowed to purchase weapons, member states buy and export weapons to Ukraine, just like NATO.
Trump's relationship with Putin had been cordial for a long time, with the latter making repeated assertions that Russia was willing to sign a peace agreement. Trump, however, had referred to Zelenskyy as a "dictator without elections.".
However, as Russia continued attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine, Trump in a social media post said that Putin “ has gone absolutely CRAZY!”.
He further said he was “disappointed” with Putin, adding, “I thought he was somebody that meant what he said.” “He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that,” Trump added.
