US President Donald Trump has called on all NATO members to toughen sanctions against Russia and to stop importing Russian oil. Only after this step would the United States introduce new punitive measures. He made the statement on his social platform Truth Social, reports The WP Times.
“As you know, NATO’s commitment to victory has been far from 100%, and the purchase of Russian oil by some states is shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position and your leverage over Russia,” the American president wrote.
Trump also argued that NATO as an alliance should impose tariffs of 50–100% on China, which could only be lifted once the Russian-Ukrainian war ends.
“China has strong control, even a grip, over Russia, and these powerful tariffs would break that grip. […] In any case, I am ready to ‘start’ when you are ready. Just tell me when?” Trump added.
Earlier in August, Trump had threatened to impose tough sanctions on Russia to force President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. He initially set a deadline of 8 August but later withdrew it after Putin agreed to a personal meeting.
Following talks in Alaska, the US president announced that he had decided to hold off on imposing additional sanctions or other “serious consequences” against Russia. Since then, he has repeatedly threatened Moscow with further measures, but refrained from implementing them while continuing peace negotiations.
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