President Trump reupped his call for NATO members to stop buying Russian oil amid a wider sanctions push in hopes of forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine.
The president said Saturday morning he is “ready” to impose “major” sanctions on Russia when other NATO nations do the same — and when all of them halt their purchases of Moscow’s oil.
“As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100 percent, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50 percent to 100 percent TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR,” he added.
Trump indicated in a Friday “Fox and Friends” interview that his patience with the Russian leader is “running out fast.”
Also on Friday, Canada hosted a meeting of G7 finance ministers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated Trump’s call for G7 nations to slap tariffs on countries buying Russian oil if they are “truly committed” to ending the three-and-a-half-year conflict in Eastern Europe.
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also welcomed “commitments” to increase sanctions pressure and “explore using immobilized Russian sovereign assets to further benefit Ukraine’s defense.”
“Only with a unified effort that cuts off the revenues funding Putin’s war machine at the source will we be able to apply sufficient economic pressure to end the senseless killing,” Bessent and Greer said in a joint statement.
“Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, the United States has already taken dramatic action against the purchasers of Russian oil,” the two officials added. “We are encouraged by the assurances of our fellow G7 nations that they are committed to ending this war, and we are hopeful that they will join us in taking decisive action at this critical time.”
The president’s push for cutting oil purchases and sanctions talks comes as the deadline for a potential meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has passed.
Russia has shown no signs of slowing down its military operation, continuing to shell Ukraine with aerial attacks.
The Kremlin said on Friday that negotiations with Ukraine are on “pause,” less than a month after Trump met with Putin in Alaska.
Trump said Saturday morning that China has a strong grip over Russia and that tariffs will “break that grip.”
“This is not TRUMP’S WAR (it would never have started if I was President!), it is [former President] Biden’s and Zelenskyy’s WAR. I am only here to help stop it, and save thousands of Russian and Ukrainian lives (7,118 lives lost last week, alone. CRAZY!),” the president wrote. “If NATO does as I say, the WAR will end quickly, and all of those lives will be saved! If not, you are just wasting my time, and the time, energy, and money of the United States.”
GOP senators are urging Trump to allow a vote on a Russia sanctions package after the Kremlin’s incursion into Polish airspace this week, a strong escalation.
“I think it’s time for the sanctions bill to come to the floor,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) told The Hill this week. “I think the president’s got to make the final call on that, so I respect that, but I’m ready to vote for that.”
