Trump gives Putin 50-day deadline to end war or face secondary sanctions

Washington/London: Donald Trump has threatened to place severe tariffs on Russia’s allies if Vladimir Putin does not make a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, marking the first time the US president has set a deadline on action from his counterpart in Moscow.

Expressing his frustration with Putin over the ongoing conflict, and confirming he would arm Ukraine with US-made air defence missiles paid for by Europe, Trump flagged 100 per cent tariffs on Russian trading partners.

“I use trade for a lot of things, but it’s good for settling wars”: Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Russian trading partners.Credit: AP

“I’m disappointed in President Putin. I thought we would have had a deal two months ago,” he said. “Based on that, we’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, and they’ll be at 100 per cent.”

The idea borrows from plans advanced by Republicans in Congress to place tariffs of 500 per cent on countries that buy Russian oil and other goods, such as China, India and Brazil, and thereby choke funding for Moscow’s war machine. Legislation to that effect has enough support to pass both houses, but proponents have said they are taking direction from the White House.

Trump said the legislation was “pretty good” but the 500 per cent rate was unnecessary and 100 per cent would “serve the same function”. Asked why he was giving Putin another 50 days, Trump said it was a relatively short period.

He seized on Russia’s economic weakness and spoke openly of his ability to use US tariffs as a tool to compel foreign leaders to back down from war, citing the crisis between India and Pakistan in May.

President Trump met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and was joined by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.Credit: AP

“I use trade for a lot of things, but it’s good for settling wars,” he said on Monday, Washington time.

The US president announced the weapons shipments and tariff deadline in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said the deal would send “really massive numbers of military equipment” to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the move and expressed gratitude to Trump and the American people after he was briefed on the plans in Kyiv on Monday by former US general Keith Kellogg, the president’s Ukraine envoy.

Zelensky emphasised the need for secondary tariffs to apply pressure on Russian allies supplying ammunition as well as parts for weapons, including missiles and drones.

“This war continues solely because of Russia, because of Putin’s desire to drag it out. Russia is trying to make the war seem like the ‘new normal’. We must never put up with this,” Zelensky said.

“Everything humanly possible must be done to force Russia to stop the killings, to achieve real peace, and to ensure security. Peace is only possible through strength.

“Russia’s war financing must be cut off. Its ties with Iran and North Korea must be cut off. Any supply of components and equipment for Russia’s military industry must be cut off.”

While Zelensky did not name China as a supplier of military components, Ukraine has previously identified Chinese parts as crucial components of the Russian drones being used against civilian targets.

Trump has not shielded his impatience with Putin in recent weeks, painting the Russian leader as a “bullshit” artist who pretended to want peace during their frequent phone calls but then unleashed bombing campaigns against Ukrainian cities.

“I felt that we had a deal about four times, and here we are still talking ... it just keeps going on and on and on,” Trump said.

“I speak to him [Putin] a lot about getting this thing done. And I always hang up and say, ‘That was a nice phone call’. And then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city.

“After that happens three or four times you say the talk doesn’t mean anything. My conversations with him are always very pleasant ... and then the missiles go off that night.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on social issues at the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday.Credit: Sputnik via AP

“I go home, I tell the First Lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation’. She said, ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit’.”

The remarks are a distinct change from earlier in Trump’s second term, when he returned to power promising to end the war quickly by doing a deal with Putin. Back then, he was confident that Putin wanted peace and said he trusted the Russian leader to do the right thing.

But as months passed, Trump’s frustrations grew. In late April, he said he thought Putin might be “tapping me along”. On a number of occasions, he said he would decide in two weeks whether Putin could be trusted.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” Trump said overnight. “It’s been proven over the years. He’s fooled a lot of people, he fooled [US presidents] Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden – he didn’t fool me.

“But ... at a certain point, ultimately, talk doesn’t talk. It’s got to be action, it’s got to be results.”

At the meeting with Rutte, Trump confirmed US-made Patriot missile defence systems would be shipped to Ukraine, as sought by Zelensky, which will be paid for by European allies.

There was no immediate response from the Kremlin. Earlier, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for international investment who took part in talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington.

“Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure,” Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. “This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means.”

Despite Republican support for new sanctions in the Senate, Trump’s decision to commit more US weapons to Ukraine has detractors among his MAGA base.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a firebrand congresswoman from Georgia, told The New York Times the move broke a pledge to discontinue US involvement in foreign conflicts. “It’s not just Ukraine; it’s all foreign wars in general and a lot of foreign aid,” she told the Times.

with AP

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