Washington, 13 September 2025 (dpa/MIA) – US President Donald Trump has linked further US sanctions against Russia to all NATO countries imposing high tariffs on Chinese imports and stopping buying Russian oil.

"I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA," Trump wrote on his Truth Social online platform.

This would help end what Trump called a "deadly, but ridiculous war" – along with NATO states imposing tariffs of 50% to 100% on imports from China, he added.

These would then be lifted when the war between Russia and Ukraine ended, Trump continued. China has great power over Russia, and these tariffs would break that control, according to the president.

Trump is said to have repeatedly criticized European countries for their oil deals with Russia.

According to several media outlets, he called for an end to oil deals in a phone call about two weeks ago, arguing that Russia was using them to finance its war against Ukraine.

He is also said to have called on countries to put pressure on China.

Although the European Union has largely banned imports of Russian oil, it allows exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia.

Macron for coordinated sanctions

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Trump was right to be outraged that the two EU member states continue to buy Russian oil.

In his opinion, it is good that the US and Europe want to coordinate their sanctions against Russia even more closely in future, not least to put an end to this practice.

During consultations with the US, Europeans had also agreed to consider sanctions against countries that support the Russian economy or help it circumvent sanctions, Macron said.

China was also mentioned in this context.

According to EU data, Europe's oil trade with Russia has declined sharply in recent years, but has not been completely discontinued.

Following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU imposed extensive import bans on Russian energy sources such as coal and oil.

However, these do not extend to crude oil transported via pipelines. The Russian Druzhba oil pipeline continues to transport oil to Hungary and Slovakia.

MIA file photo