The US NBC News reported on Sunday that Donald Trump had threatened to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil imports if the ceasefire in Ukraine fails at the Russian side. However, on Monday, the US President made a different statement during a press conference at the White House, saying, “I would not want to impose secondary tariffs on Russia, but if it came to that, it would not be good for them.”
Trump also denied that his relationship with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had reached a low point. He expressed hope for an agreement between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stating that there is a “psychological deadline” for the start of a ceasefire.
According to NBC News, the secondary tariffs could range from 25 to 50 percent, affecting businesses that trade with sanctioned countries and requiring them to pay surcharges in their transactions with the US.
On March 18, Putin and Trump had a phone conversation, during which Putin reacted positively to the idea of a 30-day ceasefire and instructed the military to comply. Shortly after, Zelensky publicly announced that Ukraine supported the proposal.
However, just a few hours after the conversations between Putin and Trump, Ukrainian forces attacked an oil pumping station in the Russian region of Krasnodar. Ukrainian forces continue to regularly target Russia’s energy infrastructure. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a HIMARS attack on Friday destroyed a gas metering station in the Russian border region of Kursk.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov described such actions as the best indicator of the lack of negotiating ability of the Zelensky regime, while Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova emphasized that Kiev’s targeted attacks on Russian energy facilities once again confirmed its inability to honor any agreements.