US President, Donald Trump has laid out a new deadline for Russia — threatening trade consequences if no peace deal is reached with Ukraine within 50 days.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, Trump announced, “We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days.”
He called them secondary tariffs and said that they will be 100%.
The US President noted that he is “very unhappy” with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Trump stressed that he wants to see the war in Ukraine end, adding that he’s “disappointed” with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin.
Also, Trump announced plans to deliver “top-of-the-line” weapons to Ukraine via NATO, saying that the US makes the best equipment, the best missiles and “the best everything.”
He said that the US will be sending the weapons to NATO and “they will be paying for them.”
Trump stated that the distribution of the weapons to Ukraine will be co-ordinated by NATO.
He acknowledged that Ukrainians “continue to fight with tremendous courage” but are losing equipment.
Rutte chimed in and said that Russia bombing cities is not for “military goals” but to create panic.
By selling weapons to European nations, rather than transferring them to Ukraine itself, Trump hopes to insulate himself from political criticism that he is reversing a campaign pledge to reduce the US role in the years-long war.
He is also expecting a financial windfall: each Patriot missile system costs roughly $1 billion and he has already touted the profits for the US as part of the scheme.
American officials also noted it would be quicker to get the Patriot systems to Ukraine if they are already in Europe as opposed to moving them from the United States or producing them new at a US factory.
And, at least in the view of some US officials, providing Ukraine with a surge in new weaponry could send a signal to Moscow that Trump is serious about his frustrations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the US leader accused of peddling “bullshit” last week.
For the last two weeks, officials in the US and Europe have been working on the details of how the plan would operate.
NATO does not itself dispatch weapons to Ukraine, but rather acts as a clearinghouse, coordinating deliveries from individual countries.
The mechanism for transferring the weapons could include European nations transferring weapons already bought from the United States and backfilling them with new purchases or they could purchase new US weapons for immediate transfer to Ukraine.
Among the countries already on tap to participate are Germany and Norway. Officials said at least four other countries are likely to join.
Rutte Hails Trump’s Decision
On his part, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, hailed Trump’s decision to deliver weapons to Ukraine via NATO, saying, “this is really big.”
The NATO Chief asserted that Trump has made a decision for Ukraine to be able to maintain its defences against Russia, and added that Europeans will pay for it.
Rutte stated that this builds on the tremendous success of the NATO summit, adding that the Europeans are “stepping up.”
Rutte added that it means Ukraine can get its hands on “really massive numbers of military equipment” for air defence, missiles and ammunitions.
Mark Rutte said that that it’s great news for Ukraine, thanking President Trump.
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