Donald Trump on January 21, 2025 at the White House (AFP / Jim WATSON)
If Moscow does not reach an agreement with Ukraine “now”, Donald Trump assured Wednesday that he would have “no choice but to impose high levels of taxes, customs duties and sanctions on everything Russia sells to the United States.
“It’s time to FIND AN AGREEMENT”, wrote the American president on his Truth Social network, assuring: “I am not trying to harm Russia. I love the Russian people and I have always had a very good relationship with President Putin.”
“If we do not reach an agreement, quickly, I will have no choice but to increase taxes, tariffs and sanctions on anything that can be sold by Russia to the United States, as well as in the different countries that will join in,” insisted Donald Trump.
The United States has already imposed several rounds of sanctions and embargoes on imports from Russia, which have fallen significantly, from 4.3 billion dollars from January to November 2023, to 2.9 billion over the same period. last year, which is now less than 0.1% of imports entering the country.
Among the products imported into the United States are in particular fertilizers and metals.
“All that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and President Putin a huge favor. Let’s fix this now, and STOP this ridiculous war! IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE” , continued the Republican.
During his campaign, Donald Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours”, without ever explaining how.
Since his inauguration on Monday, the 78-year-old Republican has increased the pressure on his Russian counterpart.
-A few hours after taking the oath, he assured that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “wanted to make an agreement” and judged that by refusing to do so, Vladimir Putin was “destroying Russia”.
Donald Trump has also stated several times that he is preparing to meet the Russian president, but without giving a date.
The Russian army has recently advanced into northeastern Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces occupy a small part of Russia’s Kursk region.
Both camps are trying to strengthen their positions while waiting to learn more about the American president’s real intentions.
The United States is Ukraine’s primary military supporter. Donald Trump criticized this aid during his campaign, but since his inauguration he has not made it clear whether he intends to maintain it or end it.
“We are looking at this, we are discussing with (Mr.) Zelensky, and we will speak soon with President Putin,” assured Mr. Trump on Monday.
Russia already faces a series of sanctions, which has continued to widen.
The International Monetary Fund thus forecasts only 1.4% growth for Russia in 2025, without any real revision compared to its first estimates in October, compared to 3.8% last year and 3.6% in 2023, supported by the rise in public spending linked to the war.
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