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Key Points
  • Donald Trump has threatened secondary tariffs on Russian oil buyers.
  • The threats follow Vladimir Putin criticising Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership.
  • Trump says measures could be imposed within a month if Russia fails to cooperate.
US President Donald Trump says he is “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25 per cent to 50 per cent on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticised the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership, the television network reported on Sunday, citing a telephone interview.

Since taking office in January, Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.

His sharp comments about Putin on Sunday reflect his growing frustration about the lack of movement on a ceasefire.
“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 … I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25 per cent tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Trump said he could impose the new trade measures within a month.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.
Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week.
The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.

The White House had no immediate comment on when the call would take place, or if Trump would also speak with Zelenskyy.

Two men sitting in the White House arguing

It’s unclear if Donald Trump will also speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming days. Source: AAP / Pool/ABACA/PA

Last week, Putin suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelenskyy.

Trump, who himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and denounced Zelenskyy as a dictator, said Putin knows he is angry with him.

But Trump added the pair have “a very good relationship” and “the anger dissipates quickly … if [Putin] does the right thing”.

Growing pressure to end the war

Trump’s comments followed a day of meetings and golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, during Stubb’s surprise visit to Florida.
On Sunday, Stubb’s office said he told Trump a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire to make it happen and suggested 20 April since Trump would have been in office then for three months.

US officials have been separately pushing Ukraine to accept a critical minerals agreement, a summary of which suggested the US was demanding all Ukraine’s natural resources income for years.

Zelenskyy has said his government’s lawyers need to review the draft before he can say more about the US offer.
Trump set the stage for Sunday’s news with a 25 per cent secondary tariff imposed last week on US imports from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.
His remarks to NBC suggest he could take similar action against US imports from countries that buy oil from Russia, a move that could hit China and India particularly hard.
The US has not imported any Russian barrels of crude oil since April 2022, according to US government data.
 For the latest from SBS News, and .
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