Trump says he will impose more sanctions on Russia if NATO does

President Trump on Saturday set conditions for imposing new sanctions on Russia, saying he would do so only if all NATO member nations did the same and also stopped buying Russian oil and imposed steep tariffs on China, ‘The New York Times’ writes.

“I am ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Mr. Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social.

“As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking!” he continued. “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia. Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when?”

He also called for the countries to collectively put tariffs of 50 percent to 100 percent on China. Without that, he said, the NATO nations are “wasting” the United States’ time.

Regarding the Russia sanctions, a spokesperson for the European Commission, the E.U. administrative body, said on Saturday that the organization would continue to work with its partners around the world on the issue.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump told European leaders in a phone call that he wanted them to reduce their Russian oil purchases.

The condition is almost certain not to be met, which Mr. Trump and his advisers know. The biggest European purchasers of Russian oil are two countries with autocratic leaders whom Mr. Trump admires, Hungary and Turkey, and they are highly unlikely to stop. Most other European nations have significantly reduced their Russian oil imports. However, some still rely on Russian natural gas, which Mr. Trump did not mention.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly saber-rattled about action against Russia, but left himself a reason to walk away from doing so. His summit with Mr. Putin in Alaska was intended by the Trump administration to pave the way for a bilateral meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky, and then a trilateral meeting with all three leaders.

After the Alaska summit, Mr. Trump’s advisers signaled they believed movement toward such a meeting was on the horizon.

Pic.: eutoday.net

President Donald Trump proposal is unlikely to land with several members of the 32-country alliance, ‘The Washington Post’ notes.

Turkey is one of Russia’s major customers and has sought to preserve ties to the Kremlin despite the war. Hungary and Slovakia, two other customers of Russian oil that are led by Trump allies, have worked to shield their economies from the disruption of finding other energy suppliers.

But some Russia hawks in both Washington and Europe said Saturday that Trump’s latest demand felt like a tactic for him to avoid taking steps against Russia, even though they also agreed that Europe should put a final stop to buying Russian energy.

“Instead of looking for a solution, it reminds me of looking for a way out,” said former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who said that he supported the push for Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey to halt Russian energy imports. But Trump is friendly with the leaders of those countries, he said, and the president could push them directly without waiting to move on further U.S. sanctions.

It was unclear whether Trump made European tariffs on China a firm part of his demand. While many European leaders are also frustrated by China’s deepening alliance with Moscow, leveling tariffs would be complicated for the bloc, which has historically been committed to free trade.

While the Biden administration placed extensive sanctions on Russia, Trump has made Moscow one of the rare exceptions in a global tariff effort that has targeted nearly every other major economy. He has not taken major direct action against the Kremlin since taking office.

Hungary and Slovakia are the main European buyers of Russian oil and natural gas now, with a handful of other countries promising to stop their remaining purchases. And Turkey, a NATO member but not a party to E.U. sanctions against Russia, has continued large-scale purchases.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is the most Russia-friendly leader in the E.U., and he has consistently used his veto power to dilute or slow European measures against Russia in the years since the full-scale invasion. He is also a Trump ally.

…De facto Trump is pushing Europe to finally become dependent on the US. He wants Europe to break its last ties with Russia (oil) and seriously damage its relations with China. Is Trump playing to further weaken Europe!?

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