Trump says he is “very angry” against Putin and threatens secondary prices on Russia

President Trump has accumulated his strongest criticisms to date against President Vladimir V. Putin on Sunday, threatening to impose “secondary prices” on Russia oil if the country had thwarted negotiations on a cease-fire agreement with Ukraine which would prevent fighting.

The comments, relayed on “Meet the press” by the host of the show, Kristen Welker, reflected a conversation which she said that she had had a few hours earlier with Mr. Trump, in which he reported an increasing impatience with the negotiations. Trump told him that prices of 25 to 50% on Russian oil could be imposed at “any time” and that he planned to speak with his Russian counterpart this week.

“If Russia and I cannot conclude an agreement on the end of bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault – which is not the case – but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I will put secondary prices on petroleum, all over Russia oil,” said Trump.

Trump previously called secondary prices as withdrawals from imports from countries that buy products from a nation which he has targeted in his foreign policy. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

The comments were remarkable given the measures Mr. Trump has taken to align with Mr. Putin, despite the support of the United States to Ukraine since the large-scale invasion of Russia more than three years ago. Since his entry into office, Mr. Trump has refused to recognize that it was Russia that sparked the war, said President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” falsely, but not Mr. Putin, and accused Mr. Zelensky of not wanting peace.

Mr. Trump’s remarks also reflected his growing promise to use prices to force countries to look at his national and foreign policy objectives. In the same telephone call, he said he would consider the secondary prices on Iran if he had not concluded an agreement with the United States to ensure that it has not developed a nuclear weapon, said Welker.