The US president has increasingly threatened secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners to pressure Moscow to take a peace deal
The US is working hard to withdraw itself from the “mess” of the Ukraine conflict, President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
When asked why the US should keep funding Ukraine as Kiev grows increasingly more coercive in its draft campaign, Trump responded: “This is Biden’s war. This is not my war. I’m here to get us out of it. It’s a mess, and I’m here to get us out.”
The journalist was referring to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s recent decree allowing the enlistment of men over 60.
”I haven’t heard that, when you say about 60-year-old men,” Trump said. “But this is Biden’s war. And we’re working very hard to get us out.”
In recent weeks, the US president has threatened to impose 100% tariffs and secondary sanctions targeting Russia’s trading partners in an effort to pressure Moscow into accepting a ceasefire with Kiev – measures which Russia has denounced as illegal.
Q: Even if a ceasefire in Ukraine doesn’t work out, why should Americans continue to fund a Ukrainian military that’s scraping the bottom of the barrel of its population like this?
Asked whether he was prepared to follow through on his threats, Trump said a decision would be made after a scheduled meeting in Russia this week involving his special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
”I never said a percentage [for tariffs], but we’ll be doing quite a bit of that,” Trump said. “We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow [on Wednesday]… We’ll make that determination at that time.”
Earlier in the day, Trump said he will “substantially” raise tariffs on Indian imports over the next 24 hours, due to New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian crude. He had previously announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, scheduled to take effect on Friday.
India, one the biggest importers of Russian oil alongside China, has promised to “safeguard its national interests and economic security” in response to the tariff threat.
Beijing responded by vowing to “defend its sovereignty” in response to what it described as “coercion and pressure.”
Moscow has condemned Trump’s tariff threats as violations of other nations’ rights.
“We believe that sovereign states should have, and do have, the right to choose their own trade partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
