Trump threatens secondary sanctions on Russia if no ceasefire deal within 50 days

Donald Trump announced on Monday that Washington could impose secondary sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not stop its war against Ukraine by 2 September.

Speaking in the Oval Office alongside NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, Trump voiced his sharpest rebuke of Russia yet, after months of faltering overtures to Moscow yielded little progress.

Trump, who initially set a two-week ultimatum for Russia to engage constructively, appears to have finally lost patience nearly three months later, abandoning conciliatory language in favour of threats.

“We are very unhappy, I am, with Russia,” he declared, adding he was "disappointed" with President Vladimir Putin. “We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days (...) it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100%."

Secondary sanctions penalise non-US countries and entities that continue to do business with Russia, which is already subject to primary sanctions.

However, shortly after the announcement, CNN cited a White House official who clarified that Trump's comments on “secondary tariffs” referred to 100% tariffs on Russia plus secondary sanctions on other countries that acquire Russian oil.

The US Congress has said it is prepared to provide the White House with new legislative tools to impose such widened measures against Russia.

Asked how far he is willing to go in response if Putin were to escalate the war, Trump said: "Don't ask me a question like that."

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