Donald Trump has said he is “very upset” with Vladimir Putin over questioning the leadership of Ukraine.
In a sharp change of tone toward Moscow, the U.S. president told an NBC reporter that he was frustrated by his Russian counterpart’s doubts about the credibility of Volodymyr Zelensky, The Guardian reports.
“If Russia and I don’t manage to make a deal to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, even if I think it’s Russia’s fault, which it may not be, but if I think it’s Russia’s fault, I will impose secondary tariffs on oil, on all the oil that comes from Russia,” he said.
The escalated sanctions against Russia “would mean that if you buy oil from Russia, you cannot do business in the United States,” he added. “There will be a 25% tariff on all… on all the oil, a tariff from 25 to 50 points on all oil.”
Trump said he plans to speak with Putin next week.
He hinted that Putin’s call for new leadership in Ukraine could mean a delay in peace talks. “New leadership means you won’t have a deal for a long time, right?” he said.
“If I feel, if we’re in the middle of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, very upset, when Putin said yesterday that… you know, when Putin started questioning Zelensky’s credibility, because this is not going in the right direction, you understand?”
Trump’s comments come after months of criticism that the administration is yielding to Russian aggression in Ukraine to stop the three-year war. He has previously criticized Zelensky, saying he was tired of the way he was handling the war and calling him a dictator for not holding new elections.
Trump said he had spoken with Putin “not long ago” and expressed his anger, but despite his feelings, he has “a very good relationship with him.”
Trump also used his NBC interview to threaten Iran with punishments if it does not reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” he said, adding that secondary tariffs would also be imposed on them.
