US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the current Russia-Ukraine war might end if the members of the NATO alliance stopped purchasing oil from Russia. He also asked NATO members to impose 50 to 100 per cent tariffs on China for its purchases of Russian oil.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote that the purchase of Russian oil by members of NATO is "shocking". Addressing NATO, he said, "It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia". He also accused NATO and said that their commitment to win the war "has been far less than 100%".
Of the world's biggest buyers of Russian energy, top on the list is China, followed by India. NATO member country Turkey is third, while Hungary and Slovakia, also members of the 32-member alliance, remain buyers of Russian oil.
These remarks follow increased tensions after drones from Russia flew into the airspace of NATO ally Poland, which successfully downed them. Congress has also been pushing Trump to back legislation that would strengthen sanctions. He claimed a NATO prohibition on Russian oil and tariffs on China would "also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR."
He noted that China has "strong control, and even grip, over Russia" and said that the tariffs he is imposing "will break that grip".
Blaming the war on ex-US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump stated, "This is not TRUMP'S WAR (it would never have started if I was President!), it is Biden's and Zelenskyy's WAR." Interestingly enough, he did not include Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Urging NATO to do "as I say", he wrote, "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."
The Trump administration has last month applied 25 per cent tit-for-tat tariffs on India, with another 25 per cent tax hitting New Delhi's acquisition of oil and military hardware from Moscow.
