Russia-Ukraine war: Trump gives Russia 50 days to make Ukraine deal

US President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATOTrump said he was very very unhappy with Vladimir Putin underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leaders refusal to end the deadly conflictWere going to be doing very severe tariffs if we dont have a deal in 50 days tariffs at about 100 percent Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark RutteThe Republican added that there would be secondary tariffs that target Russias remaining trade partners seeking to impede Moscows ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctionsRussias top trading partner last year was China accounting for about 34 percent followed distantly by India Turkey and Belarus according to the Russian Federal Customs ServiceTrump and Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States including Patriot antimissile batteries and send them to UkraineThis is really big said Rutte as he touted a deal aimed at easing Trumps longheld complaints that the United States is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid UkraineGermany Canada Denmark Finland the Netherlands Norway Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine added the NATO chiefIf I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously said RutteUkraines President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Trump and was grateful for the arms dealIn a BBC interview published Tuesday Trump expressed disappointment with PutinIm disappointed in him but Im not done with him the US president saidWhen asked if he trusted the Russian leader Trump replied I trust almost no oneTrump attempted a rapprochement with Putin shortly after starting his second term having campaigned on a pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hoursHis pivot towards Putin sparked fears in Kyiv that he was about to sell out Ukraine especially after he and his team berated Zelensky in the Oval Office in FebruaryBut in recent weeks Trump has shown increasing frustration with Putin as Russian has stepped up attacks rather than halting themTrump said his wife Melania had helped change his thinking about PutinI go home I tell the First Lady you know I spoke to Vladimir today we had a wonderful conversation Trump said And she said Oh really Another city was just hitHe added of Putin I dont want to say hes an assassin but hes a tough guyWashington has also Uturned on pausing some arms deliveries to KyivGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would play a decisive role in the new weapons planBut EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Trumps sanctions deadline was too far into the future Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day she saidBeijing opposed what it called attempts at coercion including all illegal unilateral sanctions and longarm jurisdictionCoercion and pressure will not solve problems foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on TuesdayUS Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal who are pushing a bipartisan bill on Russia secondary sanctions praised Trumps powerful ultimatum to RussiaTrumps special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday for what Zelensky called a productive meetingOne Ukrainian soldier deployed in the warscarred east of the country who identified himself by his call sign Grizzly welcomed Trumps promise of fresh air defense systemsBetter late than never the 29yearold told AFPRussian forces meanwhile said on Monday they had captured new territory in eastern Ukraine with the seizure of one village in the Donetsk region and another in the Zaporizhzhia regionIts forces also killed at least three civilians in the eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions on Monday Ukrainian officials saidIn Kyiv Zelensky also proposed a major political shakeup recommending economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko take over as prime minister and appointing incumbent Prime Minister Denys Shmygal as defense ministerThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever