Trump calls on all NATO countries to stop buying Russian oil, threatens
50% to 100% tariffs on China
[September 15, 2025] By
JOSH BOAK
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday he
believes the Russia-Ukraine war would end if all NATO countries stopped
buying oil from Russia and placed tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for
its purchases of Russian petroleum.
Trump posted on his social media site that NATO’S commitment to winning
the war "has been far less than 100%" and the purchase of Russian oil by
some members of the alliance is “shocking.” As if speaking with NATO
members, he said: “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and
bargaining power, over Russia.”
Since 2023, NATO member Turkey has been the third largest buyer of
Russian oil, after China and India. according to the Centre for Research
on Energy and Clean Air. Other members of the 32-state alliance involved
in purchasing Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia. It's unclear
whether Trump would want to directly confront Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. That leaves
uncertain whether the threats might actually lead to new tariffs or a
ban on Russian oil purchases.
Trump's post arrives after the Wednesday flight of multiple Russian
drones into Poland, an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the
airspace of a NATO ally. Poland shot down the drones, yet Trump played
down the severity of the incursion and Russia's motives by saying it
“could have been a mistake.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the drone
incursion was “unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous” as he judged
NATO’s response so far to be appropriate. Still, Rubio said it was
unclear if the drones were intentionally sent to Poland.
“The question is whether the drones were targeted to go into Poland
specifically,” Rubio said. “If that’s the case, that the evidence leads
us there, then obviously that would be a highly escalatory move.”
While Trump as a candidate promised to end the war quickly, he has yet
to hit the pressure points needed to end the violence and has at times
been seen as reluctant to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Congress is currently trying to get the U.S. president to back a bill
toughening sanctions, after Trump last month hosted Putin in Alaska for
talks that failed to deliver on progress toward peace.
The U.S. and its allies are seeking to show a firmer degree of resolve
against Russia. At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Friday,
acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said America “will defend every inch
of NATO territory” and that the drones entering Poland “intentionally or
otherwise show immense disrespect for good-faith U.S. efforts to bring
an end to this conflict.”
Britain on Friday also took steps to penalize the trading of Russian
oil, including a ban on 70 vessels allegedly used in its transportation.
The United Kingdom also sanctioned 30 individuals and companies,
included businesses based in China and Turkey, that have supplied Russia
with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.
[to top of second column] |
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend a
ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the
9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
 Trump in his post Saturday said a
NATO ban on Russian oil plus tariffs on China would “also be of
great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”
The president said that NATO members should put the 50% to 100%
tariffs on China and withdraw them if the war that launched with
Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine ends.
“China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia," he posted,
and powerful tariffs “will break that grip.”
The U.S. president has already imposed a 25% import tax on goods
from India, specifically for its buying of Russian energy products.
He has placed in total a 50% tariff on India, though Trump has
indicated that negotiations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
could help settle differences.
The prospect of further import tax hikes on China and its
retaliation could carry collateral damage for the U.S. and European
economies.
Earlier this year, Trump hit Chinese goods with new tariffs totaling
145%, prompting China to respond with 125% import taxes on American
goods. Taxes at that level were essentially a blockade on commerce
between the world's two largest economies, causing worries about
global growth that led to negotiations that ratcheted down the
tariffs being levied by both nations.
So that trade talks could proceed, America lowered its tariffs
against China to a still-high 30%, while China took its rate to 10%.
In his post, the Republican president said responsibility for the
war fell on his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, and Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He did not include in that list
Putin, who launched the invasion.
Trump's post builds on a call Friday with finance ministers in the
Group of Seven, a forum of industrialized democracies. During the
call, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent called on their counterparts to have a
“unified front” to cut off “the revenues funding Putin's war
machine," according to Greer's office.
___
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed.
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