Trump talks about his anger with recent Putin’s statements and threated to impose tariffs on Russian oil
US President Donald Trump expressed his deep displeasure with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, threatening to impose secondary oil tariffs targeting all oil coming from Russia, during an interview with NBC on Sunday.
Trump said he was very angry about Putin’s comments questioning the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling them “not going in the right direction,” referring to the attack on Zelensky’s credibility.
Trump added during the interview, “If I cannot reach an agreement with Russia to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I conclude that Russia is responsible, which it may not be, I will impose secondary tariffs on every barrel of oil coming from Russia”.
On Friday, the Russian president proposed placing Ukraine under temporary UN trusteeship until a competent government is elected, a proposal that was rejected by the United States.
Meanwhile, the Russian president continued his attacks on the Ukrainian government, again accusing Zelensky of being illegitimate, a position the Kremlin has repeatedly reiterated in recent months.
Russia and Ukraine reached a ceasefire agreement in principle this month in the Black Sea for 30 days, but the two sides have since resumed tit-for-tat attacks using drones and missiles.
In a separate interview conducted on Saturday, Trump threatened Iran with bombing and the imposition of secondary tariffs if it refused to reach a nuclear agreement with the United States that guarantees it will not develop a nuclear weapon.
“If they don’t make a deal,” Trump said, “there will be a military strike like they’ve never faced before”.
He noted that there was communication between US and Iranian officials, while Tehran denied any direct talks with Washington.
In his first official response, the Iranian president announced on Sunday that the Islamic Republic rejects direct talks with the United States regarding its accelerating nuclear program, commenting on a letter Trump sent to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
