Trump Gives Putin 10 Days for Peace Deal, Threatens Major Tariffs
Fox News reports that U.S. President Trump has given Putin a 10-day deadline to secure a peace deal, threatening oil sanctions that would target major buyers like China and India and complicating ongoing trade talks.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a firm 10-day ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin to enter into a peace deal, threatening to impose significant tariffs and secondary sanctions targeting Russia's crucial oil revenues if the deadline is not met, Fox News reported on Tuesday.
According to the report from Fox News correspondent Caitlin McFall, President Trump confirmed the shortened timeline while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. "Ten days from today," Trump stated during his trip back from Scotland. "Then you know we're going to put on tariffs and stuff."
The Fox News article notes that this threat was firmed up one day after Trump, during a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, first indicated he would reduce a previously mentioned 50-day grace period.
While issuing the ultimatum, President Trump also expressed some doubt about its potential effectiveness, a point highlighted in the Fox News report. "And I don't know if it's going to affect Russia because he wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going," the president said. "But we're going to put on tariffs and the various things that you put up, it may or may not affect them, but it could."
The proposed measures, as detailed by Fox News, include levying 100% tariffs and, more significantly, secondary sanctions on third-party nations that purchase Russian oil. The strategy is aimed at Russia’s war financing capabilities by targeting the $192 billion it profited from foreign oil sales in 2024.
Fox News reported that while direct U.S. purchases from Moscow are already minimal—totaling just $3 billion in 2024 and representing less than 1% of Russia’s total exports—the true leverage lies in the secondary sanctions.
The report identifies China and India as the top consistent purchasers of Russian oil, and it notes that it is highly unlikely these nations could find alternative energy sources within a 10-day timeframe. However, Fox News also states that it is unclear how the Trump administration would enforce these secondary sanctions, particularly as it remains engaged in separate and ongoing trade negotiations with both countries.
This new deadline further complicates U.S.-China trade relations. Fox News reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was in Stockholm this week for talks with his Chinese counterparts. The U.S. had faced an August 12 deadline to either extend a current tariff pause or see a 145% price hike on all Chinese goods. With Trump’s new 10-day ultimatum to Putin, that timeline may now be accelerated to around August 8.
The Fox News article concludes by noting that it remains unclear how the additional threat of 100% secondary sanctions will ultimately impact the president’s decision-making regarding trade with Beijing.
