President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the US would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia “10 days from today” if Moscow showed no progress towards ending its more than three-year war in Ukraine.
Trump announced on Monday he was shortening the 50-day deadline he set a month ago for action from Moscow and mentioned a new deadline of 10 to 12 days. On Tuesday, he told reporters he had not heard a response from Russia.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said he was not worried about the potential effect of Russian sanctions on the oil market or prices, vowing to boost domestic oil production to offset any impact.
“I don't know if it's going to affect Russia, because [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to probably keep the war going,” Trump said. “But we're going to put on tariffs and the various things that you put on.”
Trump, who has in the past spoken about having a good relationship with Putin, has grown increasingly frustrated with Moscow's refusal to agree to a ceasefire. The fresh deadline suggests he is prepared to move forward on his threat of sanctions after previously hesitating on doing so.
Speaking in Scotland on Monday, he threatened sanctions on Russia and buyers of its exports — also known as secondary sanctions — unless progress is made.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters he raised the issue of secondary sanctions with Chinese officials during two days of bilateral talks this week.
He said he told Chinese officials Beijing could face high tariffs if it continued its Russian oil purchases.
In a post on X, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, said Trump was playing “a game of ultimatums” that could lead to a war involving the US.
Trump, who is also struggling to achieve a peace deal in Gaza, has touted his role in ending conflicts between India and Pakistan as well as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before returning to the White House in January, he campaigned on a promise to end Russia's conflict with Ukraine in a day.
Reuters
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