The president of the United States, Donald Trump, warned that he will impose secondary tariff Reuters reported.
Talking with NBC news In a Sunday morning interview, Trump said he was “angry” with Russian president Vladimir Putin, expressing frustration for the lack of progress towards the high fire.
Trump’s comments followed the recent criticisms of Putin to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which the president of the United States took as a personal affront to his peace efforts.
“If Russia and I cannot make an agreement to stop the spill of blood in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault … I will put secondary tariffs on oil, especially oil that comes out of Russia,” Trump said.
He clarified that such measures would mean “if you buy Russia oil, you cannot do business in the United States,” and added: “There will be a 25% rate especially oil, a rate of 25 to 50 points throughout oil.” Trump indicated that these rates could be implemented within a month.
There was no immediate response from Moscow, although Russia has repeatedly ruled out Western sanctions as “illegal” and aimed at the economic advantage.
Trump, who spent the weekend in Florida, revealed that he planned to talk to Putin at the end of this week. The Kremlin has recognized two publicly known calls among leaders in recent months, but insinuated that there may be additional discussions. The White House has not confirmed when the call will be carried out or if Trump will also talk to Zelenskiy.
Trump has prioritized to end what he calls a “ridiculous” war, but progress is still slow. Putin recently suggested that Ukraine could be placed under a temporary administration to facilitate new elections, an idea that Trump has previously supported.
Trump insisted that Putin understands his frustration, but added: “I have a very good relationship with him” and that his anger “dissipates quickly … if he does the right thing.”
Their threats arrive in the midst of greater commercial pressures, including secondary rates recently imposed on Venezuelan oil buyers and planned tariffs in imports from countries with large commercial surpluses. The measure could particularly affect India and China, both important importers of Russian oil.
Trump also suggested that he can impose similar sanctions to Iranian oil buyers unless Tehran accepts to stop their nuclear weapons program.
