Trump warns Russia of 'secondary' tariffs unless Putin makes ceasefire deal with Ukraine in 50 days

President Trump said Monday he will impose 100% “secondary” tariffs against Russia if Moscow doesn’t reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine within 50 days.

Mr. Trump made the announcement after meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has been organizing the proposal to bolster Ukraine’s defenses.

“It’s not my war,” Mr. Trump said in remarks directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I’m trying to get you out of it, and we want to see it end. And I’m disappointed in President Putin, because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there.”

“So based on that, we’re going to be doing secondary tariffs,” Mr. Trump said. “If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100%, and that’s the way it is.”

Secondary tariffs are U.S. levies that would be imposed on other countries doing business with Russia, not on Russian exports themselves.

The announcement came amid the president’s declaration that the U.S. would send a new weapons supply for Ukraine, including more advanced Patriot missile defense batteries, which NATO member nations are expected to pay for.

“We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them. We, the United States, will not be having any payment made,” Mr. Trump said.  “We’re not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and [NATO] is going to be paying for it.”

The U.S. contributes heavily to NATO’s budget.

Mr. Rutte said this proposition builds on the “the tremendous success” of last month’s NATO summit where each member country agreed to pay up to 5% of their GDP for NATO’s defense by 2035, and to keep “Ukraine strong.”

“I’ve been in contact with many countries. I can tell you that this moment Germany, but also Finland and Denmark and Sweden and Norway, the Netherlands and Canada,” he said. “They all want to be part of this. And this is only the first wave. There will be more. So, what we will do is work through the NATO systems to make sure that we know what Ukrainians need so that we can make packages.”

According to Mr. Rutte, the U.S. will maintain the stockpile of weapons and ammunitions for Ukraine.

Mr. Trump has grown increasingly irritated with Russia’s rejection of a ceasefire with Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

He told reporters on Sunday that he would send the missiles to Ukraine to help fend off Russia’s attacks and condemned Mr. Putin, saying he “talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening.”

Mr. Trump has long been pressured by Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, to slap new sanctions on Russia. Mr. Graham has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill that would hit the Russian economy hard, with the goal of pressuring Moscow to end the war.

Mr. Rutte last visited the White House on March 13, and during that time, officials appeared optimistic that a 30-day ceasefire could be reached between Ukraine and Russia.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Rutte also met last month during NATO’s summit in The Hague that led to an alliance-wide defense spending agreement.