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US President Donald Trump speaking during a meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House. Alamy Stock Photo

Trump threatens Putin with 'severe' secondary tariffs if no Ukraine ceasefire within 50 days

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” Trump said of Putin in a press conference in the Oval Office.

DONALD TRUMP HAS warned Russia that he will impose “very severe” tariffs against Moscow’s remaining trade partners if it doesn’t resolve its war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The US President was speaking alongside Nato General Secretary Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, where he announced an agreement with Nato to send “top-of-the-line weapons” to Ukraine. 

Speaking to reporters in the White House, Trump said he wanted to see the war in Ukraine end and that he was “very disappointed” in Russian President Vladimir Putin that the conflict was still ongoing. 

“I thought we would’ve had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there,” he said. 

“Based on that, we’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple. They’ll be at 100%, and that’s the way it is,” he said, adding: “I hope we don’t have to do it.”

He did not provide specifics on how the tariffs would be implemented. However, secondary tariffs would mean hitting countries who trade with Russia with financial sanctions. 

Trump also confirmed that the US will send weapons to Ukraine under a deal with Nato. The move is a U-turn from a decision earlier this month to pause arm deliveries to Kyiv.

Nato’s Mark Rutte said Ukraine will get a huge supply of weapons to boost its war effort against Russia under the new arms supply deal struck with the US. 

“It will mean that Ukraine gets its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment, both for air defense, but also missiles, ammunition,” he told reporters. 

Trump said the supply amounted to “billions of dollars” worth of munitions and weapons, including Patriot anti-missile systems.

Putin ‘not an assassin, but a tough guy’

Trump has increasingly voiced irritation at Putin and the inability to resolve the now three-year-old war, which Trump promised he would promptly end as he campaigned to return to the White House.

He had long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and repeatedly stressed that Russia is more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.

But the latest announcement suggests that he is running out of patience with the Russian leader, who Ukraine has accused of deliberately stalling any potential ceasefire and having no interest in peace. 

Asked today how he told Putin about the potential secondary tariffs, Trump said he speaks to the Russian president “a lot”. 

“My conversations with him are always very pleasant. I say ‘Wasn’t that a lovely conversation?’, and then the missiles go off that night,” he said, adding that “after that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn’t mean anything”. 

I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy. It’s been proven over the years. He’s fooled a lot of people. He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, he didn’t fool me.

“But what I do say is that at a certain point, you know, ultimately, talk doesn’t talk. It’s got to be action. It’s got to be results, and I hope he does it. It’s potentially such a great country to be wasting too many people on this, and the money. Look at what’s happened to his economy.”

He said he dealt with Putin from the “beginning”, and that Ukraine was “the apple of his eye”, but that the invasion “wasn’t going to happen” while he was US president. 

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv today, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration’s policy on the three-year war.

Zelensky said he and Keith Kellogg had “a productive conversation” about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.

“We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its … ambitions are stopped by force,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Rutte also planned to hold talks with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.

With reporting from Press Association

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    Mute pat seery
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    May 2nd 2017, 8:06 AM

    Great work by the rescue services let’s hope that the families of. RESCUE 116 will have closure very soon

    220
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    Mute R2BApp
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    May 2nd 2017, 7:47 AM

    We’ve created an app, R2B, for scenarios like this. It’s free to download so no excuses…
    http://r2bapp.com

    188
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    Mute Thosj Carroll
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    May 2nd 2017, 10:42 AM

    30 hrs in sea and managed to survive! Amazing surfer from Ireland….

    91
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    Mute Free comment ratings
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    May 2nd 2017, 1:21 PM

    @Thosj Carroll: Pretty sure he was British.

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    Mute Free comment ratings
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    May 2nd 2017, 7:07 PM

    @Christopher Treacy: I’m not sure where is was from but I knew he wasn’t Irish all right.

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    Mute Niallers
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    May 2nd 2017, 4:13 PM

    30 hrs at sea. Crikey, I dipped my feet in the ocean yesterday and they went red with the cold after a couple of minutes.. Lucky man.

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    Mute xor
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    May 2nd 2017, 10:18 AM

    Not very bright going out on his own!

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    Mute Ger Healy
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    May 2nd 2017, 10:52 AM

    @xor: Oh shut up! I was waiting for the first condescending statement from a know it all, whose only contact with the sea is probably paddling with your shoes off.
    Did you not read the post, he was complimented by the coastguard for being prepared.

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    Mute xor
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    May 2nd 2017, 1:57 PM

    @Ger Healy: I am looking at the sea typing this, mr know it all yourself. It is SILLY to go out on your own. Shows what you know about the sea!

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    May 2nd 2017, 5:23 PM

    @xor: why? Sure aren’t you watching?

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    Mute Paul Devlin
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    May 2nd 2017, 11:39 AM

    Doubt he was off the ‘Belfast coast’. The what? Anyhow, well done to the rescue crews!

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    Mute Colin Watters
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    May 2nd 2017, 3:16 PM

    @Paul Devlin: He was, but he started off on the Scottish coast! Think he was from Glasgow….

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    Mute Paul Devlin
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    May 2nd 2017, 4:18 PM

    @Colin Watters: completely missed the point there, Colin. Insofar as Belfast could be described as having a coast (ie where the Lagan enters Belfast Lough), he was nowhere near it. It’s just using the term Belfast coast sounds so ridiculous to anyone from the city. Anyhow he was about 40+ miles up north Antrim direction. Complete ignorance on the party of the journo

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    Mute Daithí Uí Ciarmhic
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    May 2nd 2017, 3:30 PM

    Glaswegian surfer just doesn’t sound cool sure it doesn’t

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    Mute Brendan McLaughlin
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    May 2nd 2017, 4:55 PM

    Just goes to prove that being well tanked up on deep fried marsbars and Buckfast can save your life.
    I wonder if he had insurance for his surfing adventure across the sea – just in case anything went wrong and he needed to have a major search and rescue operation to pay for.
    Just saying like.

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    Mute eileen boles
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    May 2nd 2017, 5:31 PM

    @Brendan McLaughlin: dont think he went out with the intention of needing to be rescued epec. as he went out on his own jus sayin!

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    Mute Brendan McLaughlin
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    May 2nd 2017, 5:57 PM

    @eileen boles: Well if you don’t think it then thats how it was. Sorry if I had a thought of my own.
    Just saying like.

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    Mute Giovanni Casermaggio
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    May 2nd 2017, 5:12 PM

    Unbelievable 32 hours in the cold water and still alive. .

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    Mute Minom Pnom
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    May 2nd 2017, 6:07 PM

    He was on his board I’d say most of the time

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    Mute Paul Culligan
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    May 2nd 2017, 6:01 PM

    Did they retreive the Surfboard? Great conversational piece for the local boozer.

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    Mute Lovely weather
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    May 2nd 2017, 4:55 PM
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    Mute Ger
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    May 2nd 2017, 4:42 PM

    Amazing that he survived! That’s a book waiting to be written.

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    Mute Niallers
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    May 2nd 2017, 4:50 PM

    @Ger: Nah. If he chewed his arm off maybe.

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    Mute Leroy
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    May 2nd 2017, 10:35 PM

    I’d say he’s brand loyal to that surfboard company for the rest of his life.

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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    May 2nd 2017, 11:43 PM

    @Leroy:
    Should be to the wetsuit company! If they had any sense they’d sign him up for an ad campaign ASAP.

    5
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