Trump threatens Russia with tariffs if Ukraine war isn’t resolved

Washington: US President Donald Trump said Monday he would punish Russia with tariffs if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The Republican president made the announcement during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump said. He did not provide specifics on how the tariffs would be implemented.

“I use trade for a lot of things,” he added. “But it’s great for settling wars.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration’s policy on the three-year war.

Rutte also planned to hold talks with US Defence Secretary Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.

Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.

Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.

At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a “dictator without elections.”

But Russia’s relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump’s patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to “STOP!” launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social

media post that the Russian leader “ has gone absolutely CRAZY!” as the bombardments continued.

“I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said,” Trump said late Sunday. “He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”

Zelenskyy said he and Trump’s envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, had “a productive conversation” about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin. “We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine’s air defences are struggling to counter.

June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in

Ukraine said.