WASHINGTON–During a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday, President Donald Trump called on Turkey to cease purchasing Russian oil.
Trump welcomed Erdogan for his state visit to the White House, where they met with reporters in the Oval Office ahead of their lunch, which was closed to reporters.
“We’ve had tremendous relationships, both having to do with war and having to do with trade, and I guess today we’re talking about both,” Trump said. “I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues its rampage against Ukraine.”
“They’ve lost millions of lives already, and for what? You know, for what? Disgraceful. And I said yesterday, let it keep going, because [Russia’s] economy is absolutely terrible right now,” he addes. “And I think it’s, I think it’s a shame that they’re doing that, killing a lot of people unnecessarily.”
Trump has long advocated for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, and has worked feverishly to bring it about since returning to office. However, he changed his posture following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations on Tuesday, stating he believes Kyiv “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not?” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
At the U.N. General Assembly Trump criticized NATO countries for continuing to buy Russian energy.
“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” he said, per Fox News. “But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products, which, as you know, I found out about two weeks ago, and I wasn’t happy.”
He called on all European countries to cease energy imports from Russia so that he can impose robust tariffs, which he believes would accelerate an end to the war.
“In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly,” he said.
“But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you are gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures,” Trump added.
In late August, Trump imposed a 25-percent additional tariff on India in response to its purchases of Russian oil.
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