U.S. President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Europe to cease buying Russian oil, saying purchases by European Union and NATO countries must “stop immediately.”
Speaking ahead of his state visit to the United Kingdom, Trump also stressed that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has “to get going and make a deal” to end the war in Ukraine.
“They’re purchasing Russian oil, and we have to do things,” Trump said, adding that while the U.S. profits from energy sales, his priority is stopping the war:
I’ve stopped seven wars in the last eight months. I thought that would have been the easiest, because I know Putin, but it’s not, because there’s tremendous hatred between Zelensky…and Putin, but we’re going to get it stopped.
Trump described Ukraine as being “in serious trouble” and criticized the ongoing conflict as “a war that should have never happened.”
This follows earlier statements on September 13th, when Trump announced that the U.S. is prepared to impose new energy sanctions on Russia, but only if all NATO allies also stop buying Russian oil.
