Trump Warns of US Tariffs On Russia Without Ukraine War Deal, Calls On Europe to Join

President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the U.S. is prepared to hit Russia with “powerful” tariffs over the Ukraine war and called on Europe to match the measures to ensure their impact.

Trump singled out China and India as the “primary funders” of the conflict for continuing to purchase Russian oil. He also criticized NATO allies for failing to fully cut off Russian energy imports, saying their continued purchases were “funding the war against themselves.”

“In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the U.S. is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed,” Trump said.

He emphasized that any tariffs imposed by the U.S. would require European support to be effective. “For those tariffs to be effective, European nations… would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures. I can tell you that they have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise, we’re all wasting a lot of time,” he added.

This is not the first time that Trump has expressed his frustration with Russia after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and subsequently Ukrainain Presdient Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in August to broker a peace deal between the two countries. Zelenskky and Trump also expected to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later on Tuesday. 

In his speech in New York, Trump also slammed migration, green energy and the UN, for failing to end wars. He also said that the U.S.’ tariffs were a ‘defence mechanism’ to “ensure that the system works for everyone, and is sustainable into the future.”

U.S. equities were mixed in midday trade on Tuesday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was down 0.18%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) gained 0.15%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) moved 0.20% lower. However, retail sentiment around QQQ on Stocktwits improved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day.

Read also: XRP Tops Altcoins As Crypto Markets Stabilize After $1.68 Billion Futures Liquidation

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