‘Strangle Russia With Tariffs,’ Ukraine Urges Trump
Ukrainian officials have urged President Donald Trump to “strangle” Russia’s economy by imposing secondary tariffs on countries trading with Russia, warning that only severe economic pressure can stop Russia’s aggression.
In a Telegram post on Sunday, Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia’s economy is currently vulnerable to U.S.-led sanctions, particularly if it targets foreign buyers of Russian oil and gas.
“Sanctions are working,” Yermak said, citing reported data showing a collapse in Russian railway capacity over the past year.
“The economy, geared for war, cannot withstand the pressure and is holding on only through the sale of energy resources. It is possible to strangle the economy with secondary tariffs proposed in the USA.”
Yermak referred to a threat by Trump to implement secondary sanctions, that would penalize countries and companies doing business with Russia, especially in its energy sector.
China and India, two of Russia’s largest energy customers, could be among the primary targets.
Ukraine also pins its hopes on a tougher U.S. position, following Trump’s warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On July 14, Trump announced a 50-day window for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. Frustrated by continued Russian drone and missile strikes, he slashed the deadline to just 10 days on July 29. That deadline expires on August 8.
Trump had moved for a negotiated ceasefire to end the war, but with the daily combat raging across Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say diplomacy can end Russian aggression.
“Ceasefire proposals have been made long ago—Ukrainian proposals, U.S. proposals, and many others around the world have communicated this to the Russians,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram Friday.
“Each time, the only response from there has been attempts to gain more time for war, more time for terror. Russia does not operate otherwise.
“It is very important that the prospect of new sanctions, strong sanctions, has now begun to put pressure on Russia and not only against the aggressor state itself. All Russian finances, every scheme that fills the Russian budget, must be targeted by the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, the war has continued. According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched a record 6,443 drones and missiles into Ukraine in July alone, including 76 drones and seven missiles early Sunday morning.
Ukrainian officials said sixty of those drones and one missile were intercepted. In Mykolaiv, a missile strike injured seven people and damaged dozens of homes.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported downing over 3,000 Ukrainian drones in July and claimed it shot down 96 more overnight.
Drone debris reportedly triggered airport shutdowns in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Pskov, and Sochi.
A major oil depot in Sochi caught fire, while strikes in the Voronezh region injured four civilians and set a residential building ablaze.
‘Strangle Russia With Tariffs,’ Ukraine Urges Trump is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
