Trump ‘angry’ with Putin and threatens tariffs on Russian oil over Ukraine
US President Donald Trump said he is angry with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and threatened to impose tariffs of up to 50% on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump was angry when Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's leadership, NBC reported. In fact, Trump said he planned to speak with Putin this week.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised repeatedly to end what he calls a "ridiculous" war in Ukraine, and he has focused heavily on the issue since taking office on January 20. Trump himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and falsely called Zelenskyy a dictator.
Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections and the signature of key accords, which could effectively push out Zelenskyy.
"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 ... I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia," Trump said. "That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can't do business in the United States," Trump said.
"There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil." He said the tariffs on Russian oil would come within a month without a ceasefire deal.
Trump said Putin knows he is angry with him, but said he had "a very good relationship with him" and "the anger dissipates quickly, if he does the right thing."
Trump's rapprochement with Moscow
Trump's arrival at the White House and his rapprochement with Moscow are worrying kyiv and its European allies, who fear a peace deal with favorable conditions for Moscow. US threats to suspend military aid to Ukraine have encouraged the Russian offensive.
Putin, who has been in power for 25 years and has been repeatedly elected without real opposition, proposed on Friday establishing a "transitional administration" in Ukraine under UN aegis and without Zelensky.
Since the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022, Putin has justified the operation in Ukraine as a way to overthrow the country's government, which he considers to be under Western rule, despite the fact that Zelensky was elected in legitimate elections in 2019.
Martial law, in place since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, prevents elections from being held in a country battered by daily bombings, with many citizens deployed on the front lines and others fleeing abroad. Trump himself has had a difficult relationship with Zelensky, arguing with him live on camera during the Ukrainian president's visit to the White House last month.
The United States announced Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks in the Black Sea, but Moscow said the truce would not take effect until kyiv's allies lifted certain sanctions.