Trump does not rule out imposing 200 per cent tariffs on Ukraine and Russia to end war
US President Donald Trump has stated that it might be worth imposing a 200 per cent tariff on Ukraine and Russia to encourage the countries to sign a peace agreement.
Trump made these remarks at a campaign rally in Florida on 23 October, according to Censor.NET.
Trump’s statement on tariffs
According to him, tariffs have helped bring eight wars to an end, five of which, in his view, ended thanks to trade and tariffs.
"Tariffs have helped us bring eight wars to an end. Five of those eight, I would say, ended precisely because of trade and tariffs: we warned that if you carry on fighting, we will impose a 200 per cent tariff on both of you. And, surprisingly, they stopped the war," said Trump.
At the same time, he acknowledged that such an approach would not work with Kyiv and Moscow.
"Perhaps we should apply this to Ukraine and Russia immediately. I’ve never thought about it. I haven’t looked at it from that angle. But we don’t buy enough from them to do that. So it won’t work anyway," he added.
On the end of the war in Ukraine
Trump also stated that he hopes for a swift end to the war in Ukraine.
"I hope we are already close to the end of the Russian-Ukrainian catastrophe. I hope we will manage to put an end to it," said the US President.
What led up to this?
- On 20 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Norway and announced that, during talks with the Russians in St Petersburg, Witkoff would present the proposals on security guarantees that had been drawn up and were already set out in a relevant document.
- On 21 October, Trump’s special envoy met with Vladimir Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace near St Petersburg. During the talks, Witkoff stated that the preconditions for a ceasefire were in place.
- Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian dictator, subsequently stated that Moscow was ready to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine as early as mid-November.
- Zelenskyy subsequently confirmed that the US side had informed Kyiv of Russia’s readiness for a meeting at the level of the negotiating teams. According to him, Ukraine supports the proposal to hold talks as soon as possible.
- On 22 October, Russian dictator Putin announced Moscow’s readiness to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US. He said the aim of the talks should be to achieve a lasting peace and establish a security framework for Russia and Ukraine.
