U.S. President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday (July 14, 2025) to end its Ukraine war within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for new infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO.
Mr. Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader’s refusal to end the deadly conflict.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100%,” Mr. Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The Republican added that they would be “secondary tariffs” that target Russia’s remaining trade partners – seeking to cripple Moscow’s ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.
Russia’s top trading partner last year was China, accounting for about 34%, followed distantly by India, Turkey and Belarus, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States – including Patriot anti-missile batteries – and then send them to Ukraine.
“This is really big,” said Mr. Rutte, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Mr. Trump’s long-held complaints that the U.S. is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid Ukraine.
“Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine,” added the NATO chief.
“If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking… I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously,” said Mr. Rutte.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he had spoken with Mr. Trump and was “grateful” for the arms deal.
‘Very long time’
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would play a “decisive role” in the new weapons plan.
But EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Mr. Trump’s sanctions deadline was too far into the future. “Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day,” she said.
Mr. Trump attempted a rapprochement with Mr. Putin shortly after starting his second term, having campaigned on a pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
His pivot towards Mr. Putin sparked fears in Kyiv that he was about to sell out Ukraine, especially after Mr. Trump and his team berated Mr. Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on February 28.
But in recent weeks Mr. Trump has shown increasing frustration with Mr. Putin, as the Russian leader stepped up missile and drone attacks to record levels instead of halting his invasion.
Washington has also U-turned from an announcement earlier this month that it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv.
Mr. Trump said his wife Melania had helped change his thinking about Mr. Putin, a man for whom he formerly expressed admiration.
“I go home, I tell the First Lady, ‘you know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation,’” Mr. Trump said. “And she said, ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit.’”
He added of Mr. Putin, “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.”
‘Better late than never’
U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who are pushing a bipartisan bill on Russia secondary sanctions, praised Mr. Trump’s “powerful” move.
“The ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Mr. Putin’s war machine,” they said in a statement.
Mr. Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday (July 14, 2025) for what Mr. Zelenskyy called a “productive meeting.”
One Ukrainian soldier deployed in the war-scarred east of the country, who identified himself by his call sign Grizzly, welcomed Mr. Trump’s promise of fresh air defence systems.
“Better late than never,” the 29-year-old told AFP.
Russian forces meanwhile said on Monday (July 14, 2025) they had captured new territory in eastern Ukraine with the seizure of one village in the Donetsk region and another in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Its forces also killed at least three civilians in the eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions on Monday (July 14, 2025), Ukrainian officials said.
In Kyiv, Mr. Zelenskyy also proposed a major political shake-up, recommending economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko take over new prime minister, and appointing current premier Prime Minister Denys Shmygal as Defence Minister.
Published – July 15, 2025 10:47 am IST
