President Donald Trump on Wednesday levied the threat of tariffs against Russia, saying that unless a deal is made to end Russia’s war against Ukraine he will have “no other choice” but to issue new sanctions.
“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War!” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social. “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine, arguing that it would have never begun if he had won the 2020 election, which he lost. The conflict began in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukrainian officials recently claimed that almost 819,000 Russian soldiers had been killed, captured, or wounded since the start of the war.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly insisted that he could end the war within a day of his new administration, which began two days ago. He has directed his aides to arrange a phone call and possibly an in-person meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNN (WBD+2.51%) reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
“We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!”
His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and allied nations had levied sanctions on Russia as the years-long conflict continued. On Jan. 10, Biden and the United Kingdom slapped simultaneous sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, two of Russia’s major oil producers, along with dozens of their subsidiaries.
Trump singled out plans to issue tariffs of an undisclosed rate on imports from Russia, repeating one of his favorite negotiation tactics. On Monday, he said the U.S. would hit Mexico and Canada with tariffs of as much as 25% next month, saying that the countries haven’t met the criteria he laid out for them to avoid him making good on his threats.
The president has also threatened universal tariffs of between 10% and 20% on all imports, although Trump said Monday that “we’re not ready for that just yet.” Besides Mexico and Canada, Trump has threatened to slap new tariffs on goods from China, the European Union, and the countries in the BRICS geopolitical coalition. He also refused to rule out implementing tariffs to help the U.S. buy Greenland from Denmark, make Canada part of the U.S., and acquire the Panama Canal.
“I’m a big believer in tariffs. I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they’re beautiful,” Trump said during an interview with NBC last month. “Tariffs are a — properly used, are a very powerful tool, not only economically, but also for getting other things outside of economics.”
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