DAVOS, Switzerland — United States President Donald Trump on Thursday directly blamed Vladimir Putin for the ongoing war in Ukraine, a day after threatening massive tariffs and sanctions on Russian products if he fails to make a deal to end the conflict.
Speaking in a video address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said he would bring down the cost of oil, because “if the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” adding: “It’s time to end it.”
Asked whether he believed the war in Ukraine would end by the time the WEF returned to Davos in a year, Trump said: “Well you’re gonna have to ask Russia. Ukraine is ready to make a deal.”
The comments explicitly blame the ongoing war on Moscow, as Russian energy revenues are funding its war chest, and are the latest indication of Trump’s evolving perspective on the conflict and warming of relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It comes after Trump on Tuesday told reporters that “Zelenskyy told me he wants to make a deal.” But, he added in the Oval Office on the first day of his second presidency, “I don’t know if Putin does … He might not. I think he should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,” a reference to the country’s failing economy and inflation.
Trump also said he would guarantee security of supply of liquefied natural gas to Europe. “Yes I would. I would make sure that you get it. If we make a deal, we make a deal. You’ll get it.”
The U.S. is already the European Union’s second-largest gas partner and largest LNG supplier, after Russia cut off supplies following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But Trump has little power to boost exports in the short term, and potential trade friction between the U.S. and EU could affect gas supplies.
Trump on Thursday also said he would “ask all our [NATO] nations to increase defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product, which is what it should have been years ago.” Currently, the NATO spending target is 2 percent — but most member countries do not meet it.
Still, while Trump has previously slammed NATO members for their lackluster defense spending and other perceived ills, on Thursday in his WEF address he seemed to strike a conciliatory tone, saying: “I love Europe, I love the countries of Europe.”
This story is being updated.
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