U.S. President Trump announced on the 14th that if Russia does not reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine within 50 days, he will impose a "very severe" 100% tariff on Russia.
Trump said, "We are very, very unhappy with them. If we do not have an agreement within 50 days, we will impose extremely severe tariffs, 100% tariffs. You may call this a secondary tariff. This is not my war; I am trying to get you out of this. We want it all to end. I am very disappointed with (Russian) President Putin because I thought we settled this two months ago."
Trump made this announcement at the White House during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Rutte.
White House officials explained that Trump made clear he will impose a 100% tariff on Russia and implement secondary sanctions on other countries that purchase oil from Russia.
Trump also announced an agreement with NATO: "We will provide them with weapons. They (NATO) will pay for it. The United States will not pay any costs for this. We will not buy these weapons, but we will produce them, and they will pay for them."
He mentioned that billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment will be rapidly delivered to Ukraine, and that the "Patriot" missile defense system will be shipped to Ukraine within days.
"We have reached an agreement today to ship American-made weapons to NATO, and NATO countries will pay for these weapons. Mark (Rutte) will be responsible for coordinating. You should be able to do this very well."
Rutte called the agreement "significant," saying Ukraine would receive a "large quantity" of weapons.