Trump threatens Russia with tariffs and boosts US weapons for Ukraine
The latest steps reflect an evolving approach from the Republican president, who promised to swiftly resolve the war Russian President Vladimir Putin started when he invaded Ukraine three years ago. Trump has often criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for allowing the war to happen, but more recently has expressed growing irritation toward Putin.
'It just keeps going on and on and on,' Trump said. 'Every night, people are dying.'
Trump said he would implement 'severe tariffs' unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days. He provided few details on how they would be implemented, but he described them as secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.
'I use trade for a lot of things,' Trump added. 'But it's great for settling wars.'
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Trump also said that European allies would buy 'billions and billions' of dollars of US military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine, replenishing the besieged country's supplies of weapons. He made the announcement in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Included in the plan are Patriot air defence systems, a top priority for Ukraine as it fends off Russian drones and missiles.
Doubts were recently raised about Trump's commitment to supply Ukraine when the Pentagon paused shipments over concerns that US stockpiles were running low.
Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine. He said: 'Speed is of the essence here,' and he said the shipments should make Putin 'reconsider' peace negotiations.
Trump exasperated with Putin
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House (Source: Associated Press)
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Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January, repeatedly asserted that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelensky of prolonging the war and called him a 'dictator without elections'.
But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to 'STOP!' launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!' as the bombardments continued.
Meanwhile, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Zelensky said he had 'a productive conversation' with Kellogg about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
'We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force,' Zelensky said on Telegram.
Talks on sending Patriot missiles
People look at a damaged residential building following Russian air attack in Lviv, Ukraine (Source: Associated Press)
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Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.
At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000-kilometre front line.
Trump confirmed the US is sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and that the European Union will pay the US for the 'various pieces of very sophisticated' weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, individual EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
Germany has offered to finance two Patriot systems, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Tuesday in Berlin. As for other European countries financing more systems, that would have to be discussed in talks, he said.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was travelling to Washington on Monday to meet with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Germany has already given three of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine, and Pistorius was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times that it now has only six.
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'Weapons flowing at a record level'
Firefighters work at the site of Russian air attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Source: Associated Press)
A top ally of Trump, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Monday that the conflict is nearing an inflexion point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
'In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,' Graham said on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' He added: 'One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.'
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment who took part in talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington.
'Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure,' Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. 'This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means.'
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