US President Donald Trump has warned he will impose sweeping secondary tariffs on Russian oil exports if Moscow fails to support a ceasefire in Ukraine, signalling growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin and escalating pressure on major buyers of Russian energy, including China, India and Turkey.
Secondary tariffs are a novel trade tool that penalise third-party countries for doing business with a targeted nation. Trump used the same approach earlier this month in relation to Venezuelan oil exports.
In a phone interview with NBC News aired on Sunday, Trump said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” after Putin questioned the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and suggested Ukraine should be placed under a transitional government. “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine… I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil… a 25- to 50-point tariff.”
The threat follows stalled peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Though both sides recently agreed to a limited ceasefire covering energy infrastructure and safe Black Sea navigation, violations have been reported. Russia is now demanding sanctions relief on a major state-owned bank as a condition for further de-escalation.
Ukrainian officials said Russian drones struck a hospital and civilian buildings in Kharkiv over the weekend, killing at least two and injuring dozens. Zelenskyy condemned the attacks and urged greater international pressure on Moscow: “There could already have been a ceasefire—if there had been real pressure on Russia.”
Trump made ending the Ukraine war a central pledge of his second-term campaign and has pressed for swift progress since returning to office in January. In a separate interview with Newsmax last week, he speculated Russia may be “dragging their feet” deliberately: “I’ve done it over the years… I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe I don’t want to do it.”
Trump’s new tariff threat echoes measures recently applied to buyers of Venezuelan oil and aligns his stance more closely with European leaders. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for accelerated sanctions on Russia last week, urging allies to “bear down on Russia’s energy revenues” and end what he called “stalling tactics” by Putin.
Australia also reaffirmed its support for Ukraine at a Paris summit attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “We regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian dictator who has imperialistic designs not just on Ukraine but on other countries in the region,” he said.
Trump said he plans to speak with Putin again this week and left the door open to reconciliation: “I have a very good relationship with him… the anger dissipates quickly if he does the right thing.”
He also warned of consequences for Iran if talks over its nuclear program falter, threatening “bombing the likes of which they have never seen” if no deal is reached. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday rejected direct negotiations and rebuffed a letter Trump reportedly sent to Iran’s supreme leader.
In the same weekend interview, Trump revived interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark, saying he would prefer a peaceful solution but was not ruling out military options: “I never take military force off the table.”
