DONALD Trump has handed Vladimir Putin a 50-day ultimatum to strike a peace deal with Ukraine or face “very severe” tariffs.
The furious US President said he is “very unhappy” with Russia as he warned of 100 per cent secondary tariffs on Moscow should they continue to incessentaly bomb Ukraine.
APPresident Donald Trump, right, meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, on Monday[/caption]
APTrump said he’ll slap Russia with ‘severe’ tariffs if Putin doesn’t strike a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days[/caption]
ReutersA firefighter works at the site of a Russian drone strike in Lviv, Ukraine on Saturday[/caption]
The direct threat came as Trump met Nato chief Mark Rutte in the White House alongside Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday.
The US president said he wants the war to end, but doubled down on his frustration with Putin, saying he’s “disappointed” in the Russian leader.
Trump declared: “We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days.
The White House later clarified the US president will impose the main tariffs on Russia with secondary sanctions also placed on countries that buy oil from Russia.
The President has spent the first seven months of his White House return urging both sides to come to the negotiating table.
But a snarling Putin has always declined and instead ramped up his ground and aerial offensives across Ukraine.
Trump’s direct put down of Russia’s tyrant is among his strictest warnings to date.
He also vowed to send US weapons – compromising of “everything” in their arsenal – to Nato so they can distribute them to Kyiv.
Trump called them “top-of-the-line weapons” and said Rutte can deploy the, “where they are needed”.
Trump insisted the US makes “the best equipment, the best missiles, the best everything”.
He went on to explain that Nato allies will also send their own Patriot missiles to Ukraine with America then sending those countries replacements.
The Nato chief praised Trump’s move as a game changer.
He said it would allow Ukraine to access “really massive numbers of military equipment” for air defence, missiles and ammunition.
“This builds on the tremendous success of the Nato summit,” he added.
“The Europeans are stepping up.”
Rutte said the plan means Ukraine will finally be able to maintain its defences against Russia, with European allies footing the bill – something Trump called “totally logical.”
Trump praised Ukraine for showing “tremendous courage” but warned they are losing equipment fast.
And he once again claimed Russia’s invasion would never have happened if he had been president in 2022 – saying he saw it coming during conversations with Putin.
“It’s all talk until missiles go into Kyiv,” he said, adding that the war “has got to stop.”
APSoldiers of Ukraine’s 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a Grad multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions at the frontline in Donetsk region[/caption]
AFPThe US President is said to be ‘very disappointed’ with Mad Vlad Putin[/caption]
Rutte hit out at Russia’s tactics, saying bombing cities was not for “military goals” but to “create panic.”
Military and intelligence experts have also told The Sun of the incredible help that Trump’s package will offer Ukraine.
Mr de Bretton-Gordon said: “These weapons can strike Moscow – over 400 miles from the border. That allows the Ukrainians to strike drone factory production and ammunition sites, and others.
“So this will have both psychological as well as physical effects.
“People in Moscow will realise that they potentially could be targeted.”
‘Very disappointed’ at Putin
Trump previously said he was “very disappointed” in Vladimir Putin for “bombing people at night” and vowed to send sophisticated US weapons to Ukraine.
Returning from the FIFA Club World Cup final on Sunday, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews: “I am very disappointed with President Putin.
“I thought he was somebody that meant what he said, and he’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.
“We will send them Patriots which they desperately need because Putin … really surprised a lot of people. It’s a little bit of a problem there, I don’t like it.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Axios on Sunday: “Trump is really p****d at Putin. His announcement tomorrow is going to be very aggressive.”
What have experts said of Trump’s sending long-range weapons to Ukraine?
by Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter
DONALD Trump sending long-range weapons to Ukraine could be a game-changer for the war by helping halt Vladimir Putin’s nightly blitzes, experts said.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a decorated British Army commander, said the shipment of these long-range missiles would have profound “psychological and physical effects” on Ukraine.
Mr de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun: “These weapons can strike Moscow – over 400 miles from the border. That allows the Ukrainians to strike drone factory production and ammunition sites, and others.
“So this will have both psychological as well as physical effects.
“People in Moscow will realise that they potentially could be targeted.
“And when you also add to it the American bombings on Iranian sites that were supposed to be impregnable, it shows that American missile and drone technology rather superior to the Russian air defence system.”
The former army chief said these weapons will put real pressure on Russia, adding: “The metric has now changed and Trump’s decision could make a huge difference.”
Ex-military intelligence officer Colonel Philip Ingram told The Sun how these long-range weapons could help strike Russian missile and drone launchpads – the ones that are used to launch nightly attacks on Ukraine.
He said: “The Ukrainians are already attacking to hit Russian military logistics, defence industry bases.
“And with these sophisticated weapons, they will have increased capability of doing so.
“It will impact the ability of the Russians to prosecute these increasingly large drone and rocket attacks on a nightly basis.
“And then that’s the best way for the Ukrainians to stop it.”
It comes as Russia continues to pound Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones on a nearly-nightly basis.
Two people were killed and 28 injured in Kyiv last Thursday alone, with further strikes hitting a maternity hospital in Kharkiv over the weekend.
Trump’s change in tone marks a dramatic reversal from his earlier position in office, where he had long opposed sending offensive weaponry to Kyiv and clashed openly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But frustration has been mounting in recent weeks, particularly following a July 3 phone call with Putin, in which the Kremlin tyrant reportedly told Trump he planned to escalate operations to seize full control of occupied Ukrainian territories within 60 days.
“He wants to take all of it,” Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron shortly afterwards, according to a source cited by Axios.
That phone call was reportedly a turning point.
In the days that followed, Trump intervened to restart US weapons deliveries that had been paused by the Pentagon and vegan crafting a weapons package that appears to include long-range missiles.
ReutersAn explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv on Thursday[/caption]
EPAThe site of a drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on Friday[/caption]
The move comes amid increasing signs of Russian reliance on foreign allies — especially North Korea.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un pledged “unconditional support” for Putin’s war in Ukraine during a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
According to The New York Post, Kim reaffirmed North Korea’s readiness to back all Russian efforts to “tackle the root cause of the Ukrainian crisis.”
The rogue regime has reportedly deployed over 12,000 troops and millions of rounds of artillery to support Russia’s war effort, with plans to send tens of thousands more.
In exchange, Moscow is believed to be supplying Pyongyang with military equipment and technology, and has committed to aiding in the reconstruction of Russia’s war-damaged territories, including Kursk.
As North Korea and Russia tighten their military ties, the Trump administration’s growing aggressiveness signals a stark turn in U.S. strategy — one that some officials hope will finally shift Putin’s calculus.
“I will say the Ukrainians were brave, but we gave them the best equipment ever made,” Trump said last week.
“They were able to shoot down a lot of things.”
What is the Patriot missile system?
THE Patriot missile system (MIM-104) is a US long-range, surface-to-air defense platform designed to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, drones, cruise missiles, and even ballistic missiles.
Originally developed during the Cold War, it has been continuously upgraded, with its most modern versions—PAC-2 and PAC-3—offering different capabilities.
PAC-2 missiles use explosive warheads to target aircraft and cruise missiles, while the PAC-3 variant is optimised for missile defense, using a high-speed “hit-to-kill” approach to destroy incoming ballistic threats through direct impact.
The system is supported by an advanced radar (AN/MPQ-65) that can track over 100 targets simultaneously and guide multiple missiles at once.
A single battery can protect a wide area, but its coverage is still finite, making it most effective when used as part of a layered air defense network.
Patriot systems have been deployed by the U.S. and many allies and have seen combat in conflicts like the Gulf War and, more recently, in Ukraine.
While extremely capable, each missile is costly—PAC-3 rounds can exceed $4 million—and the system can be overwhelmed by mass attacks if not properly supported.
AFPUkrainian and German soldiers are seen during the visit of the Ukrainian President and the German Defence Minister to a military training area[/caption]
AlamyRussia has caused a devastating wave of destruction across Ukraine in recent weeks[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
