Trump said he believes ending Russian oil purchases, combined with the imposition of tariffs on China of 50 percent to 100 percent — by NATO members and the U.S. — would help bring an end to what he called a “ridiculous war.”
Trump, promised in his election campaign that he would end the war within a day, concluded his statement Saturday by saying that if NATO followed his plan, the war would “end quickly.”
Just this week, several European leaders were confident that they had convinced Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in ending the war and has to be forced to the negotiating table, officials and diplomats told POLITICO.
In a flurry of diplomatic visits, the leaders discussed new financial restrictions and plans to cut off the flow of Russian energy. Hungary and Slovakia, in particular, remain deeply reliant on Russian oil and gas.