President Donald Trump said he's "very angry" and "pissed off" at Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened tariffs on Moscow's oil amid the lull in cease-fire discussions between the Kremlin and Ukraine.
The Kremlin announced additional conditions needed to be made before complying with a U.S.-based agreement to limit attacks in the Black Sea and move them away from energy facilities, while Putin publicly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's leadership, calling for a transitional government, which could effectively push Zelensky out of office. Trump addressed the situation during an interview with NBC News on Sunday (March 30), claiming talks were "not going in the right direction."
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” he added. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Trump had previously criticized Zelensky, claiming he was "gambling with World War III" during a back and forth exchange as the rare earth minerals deal the two world leaders were supposed to sign fell through when the Ukrainian president was asked to leave the White House. Trump later claimed Zelensky could come back "when he is ready for Peace" in a post shared on his Truth Social account.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on March 3.
Trump and Putin reportedly "spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war" during a phone call on March 18, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.