Key Points
- In a Truth Social “letter,” President Donald Trump demanded NATO allies halt all Russian oil imports and back new U.S. sanctions before he acts.
- He proposed bloc-wide tariffs of 50–100 percent on Chinese goods until the Russia-Ukraine war ends, arguing Beijing “has a strong grip over Russia”.
- Trump claimed 7,118 deaths in the last week alone and called the conflict “Biden’s and Zelenskyy’s war,” insisting it would have never begun under his watch.
- Allies like Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey still buy Russian crude; European officials privately dismissed Trump’s plan as “impractical” and legally fraught.
- Move comes days after Russian drones strayed into Polish airspace, prompting NATO’s new “Eastern Sentry” deployment and fresh EU–UK sanctions on Moscow.
Washington D.C: Writing “to all NATO nations, and the world,” President Donald Trump said he is “ready to do major sanctions on Russia” the moment every member state stops purchasing Russian oil and agrees to identical measures. He blasted continued crude imports as “shocking” and a betrayal of alliance unity, asking skeptically, “Just say when?”.
China Tariffs Tied to Ukraine Peace
Trump’s post ups the ante by urging a temporary 50–100 percent tariff wall on Chinese exports, to be dismantled only once “this deadly, but ridiculous, war” ends. The White House believes squeezing Beijing—Russia’s top energy lifeline and technology back-door—would choke Moscow’s war finances faster than existing G7 price caps.
Allies Balk at Energy Shock
Several European diplomats told Reuters a full oil embargo is “politically impossible” for Hungary and Slovakia, whose refineries depend on Russia’s Druzhba pipeline. Turkey, NATO’s third-biggest buyer of Russian crude, has given no sign it will comply either, despite weeks of quiet U.S. pressure.
Domestic Politics and War Weariness
With U.S. Congress debating a new Russia sanctions bill, Trump’s escalation plays well with hawks who say Europe must bear equal pain. Critics counter that threatening tariffs on China risks torpedoing already fragile supply chains and could trigger retaliatory moves that hurt Western consumers. Meanwhile, Kyiv expressed frustration that tougher U.S. penalties keep getting linked to allied preconditions.
What Next?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to brief G7 finance ministers on a “unified revenue-cutoff plan” next week, but officials caution that any NATO-wide oil ban would require unanimous approval and months of re-engineering supply routes. If allies resist, Trump hinted he might act unilaterally though previous threats of secondary sanctions on India and China over Russian oil have yet to materialize.
For now, Trump’s message leaves NATO diplomats scrambling: find consensus on an energy squeeze and China tariffs or risk another public dressing-down from the Oval Office.
