President Donald Trump said he ‘trusts’ Vladimir Putin when the Russian leader says he wants peace in Ukraine.
Trump was speaking a day after the two men talked for 90 minutes by phone, and as European allies accused him of giving away concessions in advance of talks to try to end the war.
The U.S. President said: ‘I believe President Putin when I spoke to him yesterday. I know him very well. I think he wants peace. I think he would tell me if he didn’t.
‘I trust him on this subject. I think he’d like to see something happen.’
Trump also said he would ‘love’ to have Russia back in the G7 – the group of economic powerhouses that it was ejected from after annexing Crimea from Ukraine.
‘I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out,’ he said. ‘Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8.
‘I said, “What are you doing? You guys – all you’re talking about is Russia and they should be sitting at the table”. I think Putin would love to be back.’
It followed comments on Wednesday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders ‘is an unrealistic objective.’
‘The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,’ Hegseth added.
Trump backed up that view when asked about it.
‘I thought his comments were good yesterday and probably good today,’ Trump said. ‘They’re a little bit softer, perhaps, but I thought his comments, I thought his comments yesterday, were pretty accurate.
‘I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow them, just in their position, could allow them to join NATO,’ Trump said.
With a potential Trump-Putin meeting in Saudi Arabia at an unknown time, Trump also said he wants talks on military spending cuts with Russia and China.
Trump spoke following the release of Marc Fogel, an American teacher the government said was ‘wrongfully detained’ in Russia. He was facing a 14-year sentence for marijuana possession.
Trump is also envisioning three-way talks with the Russians and Chinese.
‘So when we straighten it all out, then I want to one of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia, and I want to say, let’s cut our military budget in half. And we can do that,’ he said.
The two countries already forged a special partnership that was on display shortly before Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Trump made the comments will fielding questions from reporters at an event where he signed an order to allow for new worldwide ‘reciprocal tariffs’ – with plans to target foreign trade practices on a country-by-country basis that will hit within weeks.
‘Tariffs are good, tariffs are great actually,’ said Trump as he signed the new order putting them in place.
He said U.S. prices ‘could go up’ due to the tariffs, amid fears of prolonged trade disputes.
Trump had hyped the order online as a signal event, using a phrase he often applies to orders he wants to highlight. ‘TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’
A senior White House officials described the massive reach of the tariffs, which will extend far beyond the tariffs that other nations impose on the U.S to encompass ‘burdensome regulatory requirements’, exchange rates that lead to ‘undervalued currencies,’ and tax structures that may disadvantage the U.S.
‘It’s patently obvious on its face that they are cheating us,’ said a senior White House.
The ‘reciprocal’ part of the tariffs taxes imports at the same rate other nations apply to U.S. exports – although the definitions being applied by the White House give Trump plenty of leeway to hike tariffs on a nation if he sees fit.
The official described how the order would take into account a series of ‘non-tariff barriers’ that the administration says hurt the U.S.
But the list of factors under consideration provide a sweeping list of reasons to slap on a new tariff.
They include tariffs, ‘unfair, discrimination or extraterritorial taxes’ including a Value Added Tax, which is common in Europe.
Trump himself said he wouldn’t tolerate the European Union’s VAT, which he called ‘brutal.’
Also considered are ‘subsidies and burdensome regulatory requirements,’ exchange rates which ‘deviate from market value’ such as ‘undervalued currencies’ as well as ‘any other practice that [U.S. Trade Representative] determines is an unfair limitation.’
The official didn’t rule out the new tariffs being lowered through negotiations – as Trump paused big tariffs he threatened to impose on Canada and Mexico.
‘What we’re hoping to do is have this discussion with the nations of the world about how imbalanced the trade environment is because of the existing structures. So the President is more than happy to lower tariffs if countries want to lower tariffs. But let’s also recognize that tariffs, higher tariffs, are not the biggest part of the problem in many, if not most, cases,’ said the official.
Euro zone bond yields fell in advance of details on the move.
The trade moves come in advance of a visit by Indian PM Narendra Modi.
The tariffs are just the latest aggressive trade move by Trump, who campaigned arguing the U.S. is being ‘ripped off’ and has brushed off warnings they could contribute to inflation.
On Monday he slapped 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum and has put 10 percent tariffs on all goods from China, while pausing for 30 days his 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico, the nation’s top trading partners.
