'Ready to handle new sanctions': Russia responds to Trump’s 100% tariff threat
A day after former U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap Russia with steep tariffs over the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia has fired back, saying it is prepared to handle any new sanctions and questioning the motive behind Trump’s warnings.
Speaking at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers' meeting in China on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, “We want to understand what the U.S. President is moved by,” adding, “I have no doubt we will cope with new sanctions.”
Lavrov’s comments came in response to Trump’s Monday remarks, where he said the U.S. could impose “very severe” secondary tariffs—up to 100%—on Russia if it fails to reach a deal to end the Ukraine war within 50 days. “We’re very, very unhappy with them. And we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump had said. Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added, “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.”
According to the U.S., around 1.2 million people have either been injured or killed since the war began, although neither Russia nor Ukraine has released complete casualty figures.
Russian officials have dismissed Trump’s tariff threats and rejected the 50-day ultimatum outright. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday, “Any attempts to make demands — especially ultimatums — are unacceptable for us,” according to Russia’s state-run news agency Tass.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also weighed in, saying Trump’s statements appear to target President Putin directly. “The latest statements from the U.S. president are very serious. Something in them concerns President -[Vladimir] Putin personally,” Peskov told reporters. He added, “We will certainly need time to analyze the rhetoric from Washington.”
As tensions escalate, both sides appear to be bracing for a deeper standoff—one that’s not just military or diplomatic, but increasingly economic.
