President Donald Trump renewed his call for European countries to “stop buying oil” from Russia, a demand he has linked to further US pressure on Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine.
“The Europeans are buying oil from Russia — not supposed to happen, right?” Trump said in a dinner speech at Mount Vernon, Virginia, near Washington on Saturday.
Trump has been chiding European countries for their Russian energy purchases. On Thursday, after meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the US president said he’s willing to heighten economic pressure on Moscow “but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia.”
While direct purchases of Russian oil by most European nations stopped after Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a small volume continues to flow to Hungary and other landlocked countries in the east. European nations also import diesel from India and Turkey, where Russian oil is refined into the fuel.
Trump suggested Matt Whitaker, US ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, increase pressure on Europe.
“They have to stop buying oil from Russia, Matt,” he said, addressing Whitaker in the audience. “Matt won’t let it happen much longer.”
With no end in sight for the war in Ukraine, Trump reiterated his frustration with the Russian leader, saying he’s “very disappointed in President Putin.”
Trump argued that the war would stop if oil prices are squeezed “a little bit more.”
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