President Donald Trump is stepping up his support for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing attacks and resistance to peace efforts after more than three years of war.
Trump announced July 14 that the United States is sending weapons to NATO, which plans to transfer the equipment to Ukraine, and also threatened steep tariffs aimed at impacting Russia’s ability to finance the war.
Trump said that the United States would put 100% secondary tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if a peace deal is not reached within 50 days.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump said.
The announcement marked a major shift by Trump to increase U.S. pressure on Moscow to make a quick deal. It came during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office.
Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine quickly, but has expressed increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a ceasefire proves elusive.
“I’m disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there,” Trump said.
Trump said Putin is a “tough guy” who has “fooled a lot of people” over the years but. “he didn’t fool me.” The president indicated he’s weary of fruitless negotiations and said he wants “action.”
“It’s gotta be results,” Trump said.
The new military aid for Ukraine is being financed by European nations. Trump has complained about the massive cost of supplying Ukraine with weapons and pushed Europe to shoulder more of the burden.
Trump’s posture toward Ukraine has evolved since he took office. He criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a dramatic Oval Office clash in February and briefly paused military aid and intelligence sharing.
The Pentagon also halted some weapons shipments to Ukraine this month amid a review of U.S. military stockpiles. Trump reversed the decision last week and revealed his plan over the weekend to send Ukraine additional air defense systems.
Trump said the United States would be sending Patriot missiles and batteries to Ukraine that would arrive within days. Several countries that already have Patriots will transfer them to Ukraine and the United States will send those countries replacement weapons.
U.S. officials have been pushing for a ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to in March. Russia has not signed onto the agreement, though, and Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Putin in recent weeks.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump threatens secondary tariffs on Russia amid Ukraine war
