US President Donald Trump issued a forceful call for all NATO members to halt their purchases of Russian oil, saying such a move would help end the deadly conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking via his Truth Social platform on September 13, Trump criticized some NATO countries for continuing to buy Russian oil, describing it as “shocking” and warning that it “greatly weakens your negotiating position and bargaining power over Russia.”
The statement comes just a day after NATO launched its new military operation, Eastern Sentry, designed to strengthen and protect the alliance’s eastern flank in response to Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace this week.
Trump went on to propose that NATO countries impose secondary tariffs of 50-100 percent on China for its purchases of Russian petroleum, with the suggestion that these tariffs be lifted once the war concludes.
The US president added he is ready to impose “major” sanctions on Russian oil if NATO members do the same.
Turkey is the third-largest buyer of Russian oil globally, while Hungary and Slovakia continue to buy Russian oil, mainly via pipeline through the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline under an EU exemption.
NATO’s new Eastern Sentry operation includes deployments and military adjustments by several NATO allies to deter further Russian aggression and enhance collective defense along the eastern border.
“The key to this is an entirely new defense design,” US General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, told a joint news conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels on September 12.
Grynkewich said the new equipment would include French Rafale fighter jets, Danish F-16s, a frigate, and ground-based defense systems that had previously been pledged to the region.
He told reporters the military alliance would defend every inch of its territory.