Trump ‘very angry’ with Putin, threatens secondary tariffs on Russian oil

Washington: US President Donald Trump has signalled he is losing patience with Vladimir Putin and flagged tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil if he determines the Russian leader is stalling a peace deal to end the war against Ukraine.

NBC News reported Trump had called in to say he was “very angry” and “pissed off” after Putin condemned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s credibility and called for Kyiv to be placed under a transitional government ahead of elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.Credit: AP

“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault – which it might not be – but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia,” NBC quoted Trump saying in a phone interview, the audio of which was not aired.

Trump’s comments, made to Meet the Press host Kristen Welker ahead of her flagship Sunday morning political program, suggest growing frustration from the president over his struggle to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine war, which was a campaign promise and an explicit goal since taking power in January.

But Zelensky wasn’t spared either. “He’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal,” Trump said later on Sunday, referring to negotiations over US access to critical minerals in Ukraine. “And if he does that he’s got some problems. Big, big problems.”

Russia and Ukraine theoretically agreed to a limited ceasefire on energy facilities in a deal backed by the US, but both sides have accused each other of violating that agreement. Russia is also demanding sanctions be loosened on one of its largest state-owned banks before agreeing to a further ceasefire in the Black Sea.

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a house destroyed in a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood of Kharkiv on Saturday.Credit: AP

The Associated Press reported that Russian drones hit a military hospital, a shopping centre and apartment blocks in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Saturday, killing two people and wounding dozens.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian army denounced the “deliberate, targeted shelling” of the hospital and said service members undergoing treatment were among the casualties.

The US had originally sought a full 30-day ceasefire, on land, air and sea, to provide space to negotiate a lasting peace agreement. Zelensky – keen to repair his relationship with Trump after their spectacular falling out in the Oval Office – agreed to the proposed ceasefire, but Putin did not.

Last week, Trump told conservative channel Newsmax: “I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet. I’ve done it over the years. I don’t want to sign a contract. I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe I don’t want to do it.”

Zelensky said at the weekend that Putin would have to be forced into peace. “For far too long, the US proposal for an unconditional ceasefire has been on the table – without a proper response from Russia,” he said. “That says a lot. There could already have been a ceasefire – if there had been real pressure on Russia.”

Trump’s new threat of secondary tariffs on Russian oil – 25 to 50 per cent, he told NBC – would hit China, India and Turkey, among other purchasers. Trump recently introduced similar tariffs on countries that buy oil from Venezuela.

The threat brings him closer to the position of European leaders. Accusing Putin of “playing for time”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a Paris summit of the so-called Coalition of the Willing it was time to step up sanctions on Russia, not unwind them, as sought by Putin.

“It means increasing the economic pressure on Russia, accelerating new tougher sanctions, bearing down on Russia’s energy revenues, and working together to make this pressure count,” Starmer said.

Australia participated in that summit, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said afterwards: “Australia stands with Ukraine. We regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian dictator who has imperialistic designs not just on Ukraine but on other countries in the region.”

In the same phone interview with NBC on Sunday, US time, Trump also doubled down on his demand to acquire control of the Danish territory of Greenland following Friday’s visit by Vice President J.D. Vance.

The Danish government and most of Greenland’s 57,000 residents are against any American takeover.

“I never take military force off the table,” Trump said. “But I think there’s a good possibility that we could do it without military force.”

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