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.”
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was