US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that NATO could end the Russia-Ukraine war by halting Russian oil imports and imposing tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for its purchases of Russian petroleum.
In a post on social media Saturday, Trump said NATO’s commitment to winning the war had been less than 100%, criticising the alliance’s continued purchase of Russian oil as “shocking.” He argued that this undermines NATO’s bargaining power over Russia.
Türkiye, a NATO member, has been the third-largest buyer of Russian oil, behind China and India, since 2023, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Other NATO members, including Hungary and Slovakia, are also involved in buying Russian oil. Trump did not clarify whether he would directly confront Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over this issue.
Trump’s post comes after multiple Russian drones entered Polish airspace on Wednesday, an act that escalated tensions between Russia and NATO. While Poland shot down the drones, Trump downplayed the event, calling it “could have been a mistake.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the drone incursion, calling it “unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous,” while acknowledging that it was unclear whether the drones were intentionally directed at Poland.
Trump, who previously vowed to end the war swiftly, has faced criticism for not applying the necessary pressure to achieve peace. Despite his past reluctance to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin, US Congress are pushing for tougher sanctions, especially after Trump hosted Putin in Alaska for talks last month, which did not result in any progress toward ending the war.
The US and its allies have intensified efforts to stand firm against Russia. At a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea emphasised that the US would “defend every inch of NATO territory,” adding that the drones’ entry into Poland, whether intentional or not, was a sign of “immense disrespect for good-faith US efforts to bring an end to this conflict.”
In response to Russia’s oil trade, UK on Friday banned 70 vessels allegedly involved in transporting Russian oil and froze assets of 30 individuals and companies, including Chinese and Turkish businesses that have supplied Russia with critical materials like electronics and explosives.
The US president has already imposed a 25% import tax on goods from India, specifically for its buying of Russian energy products. He has placed in total a 50% tariff on India, though Trump has indicated that negotiations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could help settle differences.
Further tariff hikes on China, however, could have economic consequences for both the US and European economies. Earlier this year, Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods totaling 145%, prompting retaliatory tariffs from China at 125%. This escalation led to fears of a trade blockade, and both nations eventually agreed to lower the tariffs, with the US bringing them down to 30%, and China to 10%.
In his social media post, Trump shifted blame for the war to his successor, President Joe Biden, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but did not hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for starting the invasion.
Trump’s statement builds on calls for a unified front by the finance ministers of the Group of Seven nations on Friday. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer urged their counterparts to unite in stopping “the revenues funding Putin’s war machine.”
