'It could be that we have to put secondary sanctions on Russia': Trump renews threat to Kremlin amid Ukraine war
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Sanctions threat marks policy shift
Growing US pressure on Kremlin
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration is considering imposing secondary sanctions on Russia as the war in Ukraine continues to escalate.'It could be that we have to put secondary sanctions on Russia,' Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a trip to Scotland.Trump's comments were a renewed warning for Russia, initially given two weeks ago, in an effort to stop its war in Ukraine.Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on July 14, Trump confirmed that billions of dollars' worth of U.S. weapons would be delivered to Ukraine through NATO.'We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO,' Trump said, adding that NATO allies would pay for the shipments. He confirmed that the weapons would include Patriot air defence missiles, urgently requested by Ukraine.'It's a full complement with the batteries,' he said. 'We're going to have some come very soon, within days.' Trump also mentioned a potential deal involving 17 Patriot systems already prepared for deployment: 'We're going to work a deal where the 17 will go or a big portion of the 17 will go to the war site.'Rutte added that several NATO countries, including Germany, Finland, the UK, and Canada, had expressed interest in contributing to Ukraine's defence.Trump also warned of secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian exports.'We're going to be doing secondary tariffs,' he said. 'If we don't have a deal in 50 days, it's very simple, and they'll be at 100%.'A White House official later clarified that Trump was referring to 100% tariffs on Russian goods, along with sanctions on countries that continue to trade with Russia.Upon Trump's announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that he had spoken to Trump and 'thanked him for his readiness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace.'His envoy also met with Trump's team earlier in the same week.Trump's new stance is fuelled by dissatisfaction with Moscow's repeated failure to engage seriously in peace talks . He claimed that past attempts had been derailed by continued Russian aggression 'We actually had probably four times a deal. And then the deal wouldn't happen because bombs would be thrown out that night and you'd say we're not making any deals,' Trump said. Last week, he added, 'We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin.'Though Trump has previously pushed for rapprochement with Russia, his recent pivot suggests a firmer approach following Putin's refusal to accept an unconditional ceasefire proposed by the U.S.—a plan reportedly endorsed by Kyiv.Meanwhile, Russia continues to advance slowly in eastern Ukraine and shows no signs of abandoning its territorial ambitions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
3 minutes ago
- India.com
No Entry For GM Crops, Says New Delhi; India-US Trade Talks Hit A Sacred Wall
New Delhi: Genetically modified (GM) crops will not be crossing India's borders anytime soon, no matter how urgently the United States knocks. As trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington enter a crucial phase, insiders say one red line is not up for discussion. 'There are things that are not about negotiation. Some things are a matter of principle,' said a senior official close to the development. That principle, sources say, is GM corn and soy. While American negotiators have made agricultural access a central demand, pressing India for a wider entry gate for U.S. farm goods, New Delhi is not blinking, especially on GM imports. Over the years, the issue has mutated from a mere trade disagreement into a symbolic fight over sovereignty, food safety and grassroots politics. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has repeatedly flagged India's restrictions on GM products, calling them 'non-tariff barriers'. But Indian authorities remain unmoved, largely because of the hardline stance taken by domestic groups closely aligned with the ruling establishment. Last month, the message from Sangh affiliates was if America insists on forcing GM crops into the Indian market, there may be no trade deal at all. Carried in Business Standard, that warning echoed the sentiments of influential groups such as the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which have long opposed agricultural concessions to Washington, particularly in sectors like dairy and GM crops. Their argument? Food security. The BKS has often warned that allowing U.S. crops into India, especially without clear labelling or transparency, could sabotage domestic farming ecosystems and compromise health safety standards. On the other hand, the SJM sees this as a direct attack on economic self-reliance. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. U.S. officials have privately hinted at the urgency of the moment, pointing to a deadline set by President Donald Trump, who is seeking a revival of his trade agenda. Trump has marked August 1 as a red-letter day. If no interim deal is inked by then, India could be hit with reciprocal tariffs, potentially as high as 26 percent. Indian trade negotiators are not indifferent to that pressure. But according to officials involved in the process, the sixth round of talks will only happen in the second half of August after Trump's deadline expires. Any hope for a short-term resolution seems, at best, unrealistic. As one official put it, 'We are not looking at compromise in areas that touch the lives of millions.' In other words, GM corn is off the table. And perhaps, so is the deal, at least for now.
Mint
3 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump on Gaza talks collapse and Hamas hostage standoff: ‘I know what I'd do... but Israel is going to make a decision'
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Israel is now facing a critical moment as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas have broken down. He emphasised that the Israeli government will soon have to 'make a decision' on how to proceed in Gaza. 'They [Hamas] don't want to give [the hostages] back,' Trump told reporters in Scotland. 'And so Israel is going to have to make a decision.' Trump added: 'I know what I'd do, but I don't think it's appropriate that I say. But Israel is going to make a decision.' The President also highlighted ongoing US aid efforts to Gaza, lamenting the lack of international recognition. 'We gave $60 million two weeks ago for food, for Gaza,' Trump said. 'And nobody acknowledged it, nobody talks about it. It makes you feel a little bad when you do that, and you have other countries not giving anything.' Trump said some of his own supporters criticised him for providing aid to Palestinians, but he defended the move. 'There is a humanitarian reason for doing it,' he said. 'Will I do more aid? Yeah. The US is going to do more aid for Gaza but we would like to have other countries participate.' Trump claimed that without American assistance, conditions in Gaza would have deteriorated further. 'If we weren't there, I think people would have starved, frankly,' he said. 'They would have starved and it's not like they're eating well.' Trump called on other nations to contribute to humanitarian efforts in Gaza and expressed frustration at the lack of acknowledgment from the international community. 'It would be nice to at least have a 'thank you,'' he said. Trump's comments come as Israel faces growing criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Over the weekend, Israel approved humanitarian airdrops and announced plans to establish corridors for United Nations convoys to distribute supplies. Earlier ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas collapsed last week, leaving the future of hostages and regional stability uncertain.
Economic Times
33 minutes ago
- Economic Times
U.S EU Trade deal: Who wins after tariff agreement - Donald Trump or Europe?
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs U.S EU Trade deal agreement has finally been chalked. In the end, Europe found it lacked the leverage to pull Donald Trump 's America into a trade pact on its terms and so has signed up to a deal it can just about stomach - albeit one that is clearly skewed in the U.S.'s favour. As such, Sunday's agreement on a blanket 15 per cent tariff after a months-long stand-off is a reality check on the aspirations of the 27-country European Union to become an economic power able to stand up to the likes of the United States or has long portrayed itself as an export superpower and champion of rules-based commerce for the benefit both of its own soft power and the global economy as a whole. For sure, the new tariff that will now be applied is a lot more digestible than the 30% "reciprocal" tariff which Trump threatened to invoke in a few it should ensure Europe avoids recession, it will likely keep its economy in the doldrums: it sits somewhere between two tariff scenarios the European Central Bank last month forecast would mean 0.5-0.9 per cent economic growth this year compared to just over 1% in a trade tension-free this is nonetheless a landing point that would have been scarcely imaginable only months ago in the pre-Trump 2.0 era, when the EU along with much of the world could count on U.S. tariffs averaging out at around 1.5%.Even when Britain agreed a baseline tariff of 10% with the United States back in May, EU officials were adamant they could do better and - convinced the bloc had the economic heft to square up to Trump - pushed for a "zero-for-zero" tariff took a few weeks of fruitless talks with their U.S. counterparts for the Europeans to accept that 10% was the best they could get and a few weeks more to take the same 15% baseline which the United States agreed with Japan last week."The EU does not have more leverage than the U.S., and the Trump administration is not rushing things," said one senior official in a European capital who was being briefed on last week's negotiations as they closed in around the 15% official and others pointed to the pressure from Europe's export-oriented businesses to clinch a deal and so ease the levels of uncertainty starting to hit businesses from Finland's Nokia to Swedish steelmaker SSAB ."We were dealt a bad hand. This deal is the best possible play under the circumstances," said one EU diplomat. "Recent months have clearly shown how damaging uncertainty in global trade is for European businesses."That imbalance - or what the trade negotiators have been calling "asymmetry" - is manifest in the final only is it expected that the EU will now call off any retaliation and remain open to U.S. goods on existing terms, but it has also pledged $600 billion of investment in the United States. The time-frame for that remains undefined, as do other details of the accord for talks unfolded, it became clear that the EU came to the conclusion it had more to lose from all-out retaliatory measures it threatened totalled some 93 billion euros - less than half its U.S. goods trade surplus of nearly 200 billion a growing number of EU capitals were also ready to envisage wide-ranging anti-coercion measures that would have allowed the bloc to target the services trade in which the United States had a surplus of some $75 billion last even then, there was no clear majority for targeting the U.S. digital services which European citizens enjoy and for which there are scant homegrown alternatives - from Netflix to Uber to Microsoft cloud remains to be seen whether this will encourage European leaders to accelerate the economic reforms and diversification of trading allies to which they have long paid lip service but which have been held back by national the deal as a painful compromise that was an "existential threat" for many of its members, Germany's BGA wholesale and export association said it was time for Europe to reduce its reliance on its biggest trading partner."Let's look on the past months as a wake-up call," said BGA President Dirk Jandura. "Europe must now prepare itself strategically for the future - we need new trade deals with the biggest industrial powers of the world."A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.A2. US is levying 15 per cent tariffs on Europe.
