Trump to hit Russia with 100% tariffs if no deal to end Ukraine war in 50 days

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 latest example of his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump 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,” the Republican president said. He stated that they would be “secondary tariffs,” referring to the fact that they would target Russia’s trading partners with the intention of isolating Moscow from the global economy. “I use trade for a lot of things,” Trump added. “However, it works great for settling wars.” In addition to the threat of tariffs, Trump and Rutte talked about a new pipeline for American weapons. European allies plan to buy military equipment and then transfer them to Ukraine. Trump said there would be “billions and billions” of dollars purchased.Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine. He stated that “speed is of the essence here” and that the shipments ought to cause Putin to “reconsider” peace talks. Trump was furious at Putin. 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 Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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 lethal assaults on Kyiv and declaring that the Russian leader had “gone absolutely CRAZY!” in a subsequent social media post as the bombardments continued.
“It just keeps going on and on and on,” Trump said on Monday. “People are dying every night.” Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. On Monday, Keith Kellogg and Zelenskyy met in Kyiv.