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Trump Orders Others to Put Pressure on Putin as His Peace Promise Falls Apart

Instead of imposing tougher sanctions on Russia, Donald Trump has asked EU leaders to target countries including China and India.

President Donald Trump has come up with a round-about way to try to end the war in Ukraine while avoiding a direct confrontation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. president has asked European leaders to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on products from India and China in a bid to pressure the two countries to stop buying Russian oil, thereby cutting off Russia’s funding source. U.S. officials said they too would impose 100 percent tariffs on goods from China and India, but only if the EU does too. The U.S. has already hit Indian products with a 50-percent duty. The proposal comes as White House officials have begun to lose hope that the Trump administration will be able to broker a peace deal with Russia, which this week launched the biggest aerial strike of the war so far. Trump has repeatedly threatened tougher sanctions against Russia but has failed to follow through. In some cases, the administration has even eased restrictions, allowing Moscow to acquire the money and materials it needs to fuel its invasion, The New York Times reported in July.