Russia yesterday rejected pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose stiff economic penalties on Moscow if it does not end hostilities with Ukraine within 50 days — although the Kremlin indicated it would review his latest stance.
“We first and foremost note that any attempts to make demands — especially ultimatums — are unacceptable for us,” state-run Tass news service quoted Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s statement was “serious,” and Moscow needed time to study it, Tass reported.
Photo: Bloomberg
Trump on Monday said that he would apply levies in the form of “secondary tariffs” if the Kremlin did not cease fighting. He did not provide details, but has used the term in the past to describe duties imposed on countries for trading with US adversaries.
The threats echo punishment spelled out in a bipartisan bill in the US Congress that would impose 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas, such as China and India.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent,” Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, where he also promised new weapons for Kyiv.
The US president’s move to put pressure on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin came after several months of unsuccessfully trying to cajole Moscow into halting its offensive in Ukraine and negotiating a peace deal. Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past few weeks.
Asked if Trump meant to refer to the more widely known tool “secondary sanctions,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told reporters that sanctions and tariffs were “both tools in his toolbox” and that “you can do either one.”
A White House official said Russia could face both measures if it fails to sign a ceasefire deal by early September.
US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker said the planned action effectively represents secondary sanctions on countries buying oil from Russia.
“It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil,” he told reporters. “And it really is going to, I think, dramatically impact the Russian economy.”
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS