According to them, Trump made such a proposal on September 9, having connected online to the meeting between senior US and EU officials in Washington to discuss joint pressure measures to the Russian Federation.
The interlocutor of FT in the Trump administration said that the United States is “ready to act right now”, but they will do this only if other European partners strengthen measures with Washington.
Another American official said that the United States is ready to introduce the same high duties in relation to the PRC and India as the EU, if Brussels agrees to such a step.
As FT indicated, Trump's proposal sounded against the backdrop of disappointment in the White House about the difficulty of achieving a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev and increasingly aggressive Russian aircraft in Ukraine.
Trump proposed to introduce hard tariffs to everyone and save them until they agree to stop the purchase of Russian oil in Beijing, the FT source emphasized.
The EU stated that they are preparing a new, 19th, package of sanctions against Russia, which should include more secondary sanctions directed against countries that help the Russian Federation to avoid restrictions introduced against it, emphasized AFP.
Context
On August 25, Trump said that “very serious consequences” may occur if the aggressor country does not sit at the negotiations with Ukraine, and threatened to “intervene” if there is no progress in two weeks. The next day, Trump threatened the Russian Economic War if she refuses negotiations with Ukraine.
The media reported that Trump had a hot conversation with the participants in the meeting of the “Coalition of those who wish” in Paris on September 4. Trump accused the EU countries of buying Russian oil, which helps the Russian military machine. When Trump translated the conversation on the topic of sanctions against the Russian Federation, the EU leaders proposed to send their representatives to Washington within 48 hours to create a working group on restrictions against the Russian Federation.
The White House said that Trump during the conversation also called on European leaders to put pressure on China so that Beijing stops buying Russian oil. On September 8, FT wrote that the EU is considering sanctions against China due to the purchase of Russian energy carriers.
After September 7, the US Ministry of Finance, after the blow of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on the night of September 7, stated that the United States is ready to increase pressure on Russia, but we need support for European partners. If the United States and the EU introduce more sanctions and secondary tariffs for countries buying Russian oil, the Russian economy will completely collapse, said the head of the American Ministry of Finance Scott Immovation.
On the same day, Trump said that he was ready for the second stage of sanctions against Russia.
