Trump demands that NATO countries stop buying Russian oil
The United States is ready to impose further energy restrictions on Russia, President Donald Trump stated on Saturday, but only if all NATO countries stop buying Russian oil and take comparable actions.
In a social media post, Trump stated, “I am prepared to impose significant sanctions on Russia once all NATO countries have decided and begun to take similar action, and when all NATO countries cease purchasing oil from Russia.”
In an effort to assist in ending Russia’s war with Ukraine, which Trump has found difficult to halt despite repeated threats of stronger sanctions on Moscow and its allies, the United States has increased pressure on NATO nations to tighten energy sanctions on Russia in recent weeks.
At home, Trump has also come under fire for repeatedly giving Russia two-week deadlines to de-escalate and letting them pass without taking any real action. 54% of Americans, including one in five of Trump’s Republican supporters, think the president is too close to Russia, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from August.
In a Friday call, the finance ministers of the Group of Seven countries discussed potential tariffs on states they believe are “enabling” Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as additional penalties on Russia.
Oil and gas exports are a major focus of Western sanctions since energy profits continue to be the Kremlin’s primary source of funding for the war effort. However, officials and economists caution that drastic restrictions on Russian crude also run the risk of raising oil prices globally, which may put pressure on Western economies and reduce public support for the policies.
According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Turkey, a member of NATO, has been the third-largest purchaser of Russian oil since 2023, behind China and India. Slovakia and Hungary are two more members of the 32-state alliance that buy Russian oil.
Trump, who is spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, stated that Beijing’s economic hold on Moscow would be weakened if NATO as a whole imposed 50% to 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump has escalated trade talks between the two democracies by imposing an additional 25% duty on Indian imports in an attempt to persuade New Delhi to stop buying cheap Russian crude oil. This brings the total amount of punitive duties on Indian goods to 50%.
But while his administration manages a precarious trade truce with Beijing, Trump has held off on levying further duties on Chinese imports because of China’s purchases of Russian oil.
