Trump Backs Off Promise to Sanction Russia and Again Blames Zelensky for Invasion

President Donald Trump appeared to back off a promise to sanction Russia for its refusal to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday, announcing stringent new conditions on his own allies before he will take action. Trump has repeatedly threatened to punish Russia with new sanctions if it refuses to reach an agreement with Ukraine, but has failed to follow through as Moscow has ignored several deadlines. Now, Trump says he will only sanction Russia when all NATO countries stop buying oil from Russia and place sweeping tariffs on China—measures that are unlikely to be met Read More: Trump Says He Will Sanction Russia After Putin Launches Largest Air Attack of the War “I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday morning in what he said was a letter to the international alliance and the world. “As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking.” NATO member Turkey is Russia’s third largest importer of oil—behind China and India— according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. In Trump’s post, he called on NATO to follow his aggressive tariff agenda and place 50% to 100% tariffs on China for its purchasing of Russian oil, which he says would be lifted at the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine. “China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip,” the letter reads, stating tariffs on China would “be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.” As he has in the past, Trump blamed former President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This is not TRUMP’S WAR (it would never have started if I was President!), it is Biden’s and Zelenskyy’s WAR. I am only here to help stop it,” he wrote. The letter comes after Russia last week launched its largest air assault of the war since the country invaded Ukraine in 2022—an assault that included over 800 strike drones and resulted in multiple casualties.  Soon after the assault, Trump was asked outside the White House by reporters if he was ready to impose a second round of sanctions against Russia following the attack, to which Trump said: “Yeah, I am.” Moscow responded swiftly after Trump’s threats of sanctions, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling reporters Monday that Western sanctions have “no effect” and that “sanctions are the agenda supported by the Kyiv regime and European countries.” Trump has consistently threatened sanctions against Russia throughout his first nine months in office in order to get President Vladimir Putin back to the negotiating table. Trump’s Alaska meeting with his Russian counterpart last month resulted in no formal agreement or any discernible progress towards one. Since then, Trump says he has been trying to negotiate a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, which would be the first since the war began. The European Union is currently drafting and set to roll out its 19th round of sanctions against Russia in the coming days, and has announced its plans to phase out Russian oil by 2028. Still, members Hungary and Slovakia are importers of Russian oil. The call to NATO comes a few days after 19 Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace, a sharp escalation by Russia that NATO countries had described as a dangerous violation. “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” Trump had reacted on Wednesday morning on Truth Social, although he later told reporters that the incursion might have been a “mistake.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined a virtual G-7 economics meeting on Friday with the world’s top finance ministers, who are looking to increase economic pressure on Russia. In the meeting, Bessent reiterated Trump’s call for allies to impose tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil.