Trump threatens Russia tariffs if Ukraine war is not resolved within 50 days

Donald Trump said he would punish Russia with tariffs if there is not a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The US 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,” Mr 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, Mr Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration’s policy on the three-year war.

Mr Rutte also planned to hold talks with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.

Mr 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.

Mr Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Mr 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, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of prolonging the war and called him a “dictator without elections.”

But Russia’s relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Mr Trump’s patience. In April, Mr Trump urged Mr 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,” Mr Trump said late on Sunday. “He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”

Mr Zelensky said he and Mr 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,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram.

Later on Monday, Mr Zelensky posted about having spoken to Mr Trump by phone and said he “discussed the necessary means and solutions with the president to provide better protection for people from Russian attacks and to strengthen our positions”.

Mr Zelensky added that Mr Trump had “agreed to catch up more often by phone and co-ordinate our steps in the future”.

Mr Trump has confirmed the US is sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and that the European Union will pay the US for the “various pieces of very sophisticated” weaponry.

Doubts were recently raised about Mr Trump’s commitment to supply Ukraine when the Pentagon paused shipments over concerns that US stockpiles were running low.

Mr Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine.

He said “speed is of the essence here” and he suggested that some weapons would be rushed to Ukraine and later replaced with purchases from the US.

A senior Russian politician, Konstantin Kosachev, said Mr Trump’s plan had “only one beneficiary — the US military-industrial complex”.