March 30, 2025 (EIRNS)—In remarks to NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, March 30, President Donald Trump pulled out his deal-maker’s toolkit to try to growl at Russian President Vladimir Putin over the latter’s questioning Zelenskyy’s credibility as a valid interlocutor in the peace process. British daily The Guardian, among others, made hay with this, characterizing it as “a sharp change of tone towards Moscow.”
More to the point, Trump appears to be frustrated at the fact that hard reality doesn’t bend to his pronouncements and desires, and that things are stickier and will take longer than he would like. Putin has made it clear all along that Russia will not accept a ceasefire, total or partial, unless it is moving in the direction of solving the fundamental issues that created the crisis. And questioning Zelenskyy’s credibility is like stating that the sky is blue—which Trump knows as well as anybody.
Trump told NBC News: “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, which it might not be, but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia. … [That] would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all … on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”