President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a pair of steps intended to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, including funneling new weapons to Kyiv and threatening economic punishment on Moscow if peace isn’t reached in 50 days, as he grows increasingly disenchanted with his Russian counterpart.
“I use trade for a lot of things,” Trump said. “But it’s great for settling wars.”
A White House official clarified to CNN that when the president referred to “secondary tariffs,” he meant 100% tariffs on Russia and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy Russian oil. The US conducts very little trade with Russia, making the secondary sanctions the piece with potentially the most bite.
“They’re secondary sanctions. It’s sanctions on countries that are buying the oil from Russia. So it’s really not about sanctioning Russia,” Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the White House. “It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil. It really is going to dramatically impact the Russian economy.”
Underpinning the president’s two announcements Monday was his newfound irritation toward Putin, with whom he shares a long and sometimes confounding relationship. Once complimentary of Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, Trump appeared angry that his overtures on ending the war have been mostly ignored in Moscow.
“My conversations with him are very pleasant, and then the missiles go off at night,” Trump said, even as he denied falling into a trap set for his predecessors: “He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden — he didn’t fool me.”
Sitting alongside Trump, Rutte described the weapons agreement as a game-changer. He identified several nations – including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway – as potential suppliers of the new equipment.
For Trump’s part, the new European contribution was welcome. He described himself as newly impressed with the continent’s willingness to shoulder some of the burden of the war.
“Europe has a lot of spirit for this war. When I first got involved I really didn’t think they did, but they do,” he said. “The level of esprit de corps they have is amazing.”
The president described sending a “full complement” of weapons as part of the new arrangement. In addition to Patriot missile batteries — the top item on Kyiv’s wish list and one Trump said Sunday was vital to Ukraine’s defenses — the US could also sell short-range missiles, Howitzer rounds and medium-range air-to-air missiles to NATO members, which would then be transferred to Ukraine, a person familiar with the deliberations said ahead of the announcement.
Whitaker, the US NATO envoy, said the immediate focus on shipping weapons to Ukraine was on defensive systems, like the Patriot batteries that can intercept Russian ballistic missiles. But he didn’t rule out providing offensive weapons.
“All weapons are both offensive and defensive,” he said. “Obviously an air defense system is important and critical for the situation, but at the same time we’re not taking anything off the table.”
Securing more Patriot batteries is a major win for Ukraine. The threat of losing access to these air defense systems has long been among Ukraine’s biggest worries as they play a key role in protecting the lives of millions of Ukrainian civilians.
The thinking behind Trump’s decision on weapons is multifold, officials said.
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.Taken together, the moves amount to a markedly new approach to the conflict, which Trump has worked to distance himself from since taking office in January. Even as he delivered the announcement from the Oval Office, the president argued he wasn’t to blame for the prolonged war.
Still, he appeared entirely fed up with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he acknowledged American weaponry – however it is delivered – would be necessary if Kyiv is to stave off a full-bore invasion.
“I felt we had a deal about four times,” Trump said, referring to a prospective peace agreement with Russia. “But it just kept going on and on.”
The plan the president unveiled Monday – which would see European nations purchase American weapons, then transfer them to Ukraine – has been under discussion for months, ever since Trump won last year’s election and European officials quickly began deliberating on ways to sustain US weapons shipments to Ukraine under a leader who had vowed to pull back American support.
Eight months later, the president announced the plan during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. The president also laid out his new deadline for Russia — threatening trade consequences if no peace deal is reached with Ukraine within 50 days.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump said. “Tariffs at about 100%, you’d call them secondary tariffs. You know what that means.”
“I use trade for a lot of things,” Trump said. “But it’s great for settling wars.”
A White House official clarified to CNN that when the president referred to “secondary tariffs,” he meant 100% tariffs on Russia and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy Russian oil. The US conducts very little trade with Russia, making the secondary sanctions the piece with potentially the most bite.
“They’re secondary sanctions. It’s sanctions on countries that are buying the oil from Russia. So it’s really not about sanctioning Russia,” Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the White House. “It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil. It really is going to dramatically impact the Russian economy.”
Underpinning the president’s two announcements Monday was his newfound irritation toward Putin, with whom he shares a long and sometimes confounding relationship. Once complimentary of Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, Trump appeared angry that his overtures on ending the war have been mostly ignored in Moscow.
“My conversations with him are very pleasant, and then the missiles go off at night,” Trump said, even as he denied falling into a trap set for his predecessors: “He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden — he didn’t fool me.”
Sitting alongside Trump, Rutte described the weapons agreement as a game-changer. He identified several nations – including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway – as potential suppliers of the new equipment.
For Trump’s part, the new European contribution was welcome. He described himself as newly impressed with the continent’s willingness to shoulder some of the burden of the war.
“Europe has a lot of spirit for this war. When I first got involved I really didn’t think they did, but they do,” he said. “The level of esprit de corps they have is amazing.”
The president described sending a “full complement” of weapons as part of the new arrangement. In addition to Patriot missile batteries — the top item on Kyiv’s wish list and one Trump said Sunday was vital to Ukraine’s defenses — the US could also sell short-range missiles, Howitzer rounds and medium-range air-to-air missiles to NATO members, which would then be transferred to Ukraine, a person familiar with the deliberations said ahead of the announcement.
Whitaker, the US NATO envoy, said the immediate focus on shipping weapons to Ukraine was on defensive systems, like the Patriot batteries that can intercept Russian ballistic missiles. But he didn’t rule out providing offensive weapons.
“All weapons are both offensive and defensive,” he said. “Obviously an air defense system is important and critical for the situation, but at the same time we’re not taking anything off the table.”
Securing more Patriot batteries is a major win for Ukraine. The threat of losing access to these air defense systems has long been among Ukraine’s biggest worries as they play a key role in protecting the lives of millions of Ukrainian civilians.
The thinking behind Trump’s decision on weapons is multifold, officials said.
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.
Comments
Post a Comment