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US President announces first sanctions over Putin's refusal to end war in Ukraine
Donald Trump called Russia an "extraordinary threat" to the United States as he announced the first sanctions over Vladimir Putin's refusal to stop the war in Ukraine.
The US president said he would hit India with an additional 25% trade tariff over its purchase of Russian oil, a significant source of revenue for the Kremlin.
The so-called secondary tariff, which brings the total tariff against India to 50 percent, was announced in an executive order signed hours after envoy Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump's top envoy, met with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin for talks on dealing with the situation.
Trump gave Putin until Friday to agree to a ceasefire or face tariffs on Russia's major trading partners.
"I have received additional information from various senior officials, among other things, on the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation regarding the situation in Ukraine," Mr. Trump said after meeting with Mr. Witkoff.
The US president said this information meant that Moscow posed "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."
"I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India which directly or indirectly imports petroleum from the Russian Federation," he added.
Trump had suggested that Witkoff's meeting with Putin would determine any decision by the US president to follow through on threats to impose tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy.
India and China are among the countries that buy the most Russian crude oil, which analysts say provides key revenue for Putin to power his war machine in Ukraine.
Despite Trump's warm personal ties with Narendra Modi, relations between the countries have deteriorated.
The US could also take steps to increase sanctions against Russia's so-called "shadow fleet", which it uses to transport oil to New Delhi and Beijing.
Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday for the fifth time, in what were considered crucial talks ahead of possible tariffs and sanctions.
Russian officials had hoped to prevent economically devastating measures by offering a partial "air ceasefire" halting missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
But that fell short of Mr. Trump's demand for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, which would be used to pave the way for talks on a permanent peace.
A senior aide to the Russian president had described the talks as "useful and constructive".
"Russia had conveyed signals to the American side on the Ukrainian issue and had received corresponding signals from Trump," Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the talks concluded.
He claimed that Mr Trump had not yet been “briefed” on the talks, which he claimed focused on the “Ukraine crisis” and “US-Russia strategic cooperation”.
But the US president announced his executive order with the first economic measures in an attempt to end the war.
This comes after four European countries pledged to buy $1 billion in US weapons for Ukraine, as part of a scheme created by Mr Trump and Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general.
Trump appears to be supporting Kiev's cause, having been frustrated with Putin's refusal to sit down seriously at the negotiating table. /Adapted from The Telegraph/
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