US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a tough plan intended to pressure Russia to end its war of invasion in Ukraine. Announcing the plan in Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump promised funneling new weapons to Ukraine and threatened Moscow with fresh sanctions in case peace isn’t reached in 50 days.
The moves amount to White House’s new stance over Russia-Ukraine conflict as Trump is increasingly disappointed with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to accept US-proposed unconditional cease-fire deal. “I don’t want to say he [Putin] is assassin, but he’s a tough buy,” Trump said. He stressed the US would send Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine to help the country to defend itself in the war that enters the fourth year. Referring to the potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, Trump said: “I felt we had a deal about four times, but it just kept going on and on.”
Under the deal unveiled on Monday, the US will supply Ukraine with weapons that will be paid by NATO countries. Rutte said a large number of weapons, including missiles, will be sent, as first batch of military aid. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly appealed to Western countries, asking for air defence systems and other weapons to help defend his country against relentless Russian attack that have reached record levels.
Trump’s pledge to funnel more weapons to Ukraine was coupled with the intent to impose 100 percent tariffs on Russia as well as secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if the peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow is not reached within fifty days.
