President Donald Trump should not delay imposing secondary tariffs on Russian oil any longer, especially with his upcoming call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. It is crucial for Putin to understand the seriousness of the situation.

Over the weekend, Trump heightened the tariff threat, expressing his strong emotions towards Putin for hindering the US efforts to establish lasting peace in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. His frustration was evident as he mentioned being “very angry” and “pissed off.”

Despite Putin’s agreement to some cease-fires in the Black Sea and on energy facility attacks, his administration quickly violated these agreements while also introducing new conditions for any potential peace deal. It is clear that Putin’s actions are not aligning with the path to resolution.

Trump is still giving Putin room to back off: “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” the president told NBC.

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” he elaborated.

Putin’s behavior so far gives every sign that he thinks he can play Trump for a sucker; our president will only be doing everyone a favor if he acts now to disabuse Vlad of that delusion.

Toss on the tariffs now, and start preparing more pain for Putin if he doesn’t finally start playing ball for real.