President Donald Trump announced Monday he will provide Ukraine with advanced US weapons and threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Russia and its trading partners if a peace deal is not reached within 50 days.
Speaking during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump said European countries would purchase US-made weapons, including Patriot air defense systems, to send to Ukraine. Trump said Tuesday the Patriot missiles are “already being shipped.” The announcement marks a significant shift from Trump’s earlier campaign promises to quickly end the war.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump said. “Tariffs at about 100%, you’d call them secondary tariffs.”
The president expressed growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he had thought they reached agreements multiple times, only to see continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.
“I felt we had a deal about four times,” Trump said. “My conversations with him are very pleasant, and then the missiles go off at night.”
White House officials clarified that the threatened tariffs would target countries purchasing Russian oil and gas, potentially affecting major buyers like India and China. The US conducts minimal direct trade with Russia.
The weapons announcement came as Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukrainian officials welcomed the move, with parliament foreign affairs committee chair Oleksandr Merezhko calling it “very encouraging,” especially regarding air defense needs.
Since taking office in January, Trump has struggled to deliver on his campaign promise to end the war within 24 hours. Multiple ceasefire attempts have failed, with Russia continuing its offensive operations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the weapons supply represented a continuation of former President Joe Biden’s policies under “a different guise.” Russian officials indicated they need more time to analyze Trump’s statements, which Peskov called “quite serious.”
The 50-day deadline would expire in early September, during what is typically peak fighting season in the conflict.
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