US: Trump Says Patience Running Out With Putin, Offers Vague Threat Of Sanctions

President Donald Trump told Fox News he will be ‘clamping down’ on Russia as his patience is “running out fast” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

• Asked what ‘clamping down’ entails, Trump said, “it’ll be hitting very hard with sanctions to banks and having to do with oil and tariffs also.”
• Trump added, “I’ve done a lot. Look, India was their biggest customer. I put a 50% tariff on India because they are buying oil from Russia. That’s not an easy thing to do.”
• Trump continued, “Remember this, this is a Europe problem much more than our problem... We were spending USD$350B on a war that was across the ocean… I did something [with NATO] and got them to raise [defence contributions] … And they’re now paying.”
• Trump’s comments prompted a slight uptick in the implied probability of Trump imposing new Russia sanctions by Sept. 30, from 29% -35%. However, Trump’s ambiguous comments on Europe indicate the White House could use Europe’s continued purchase of Russian hydrocarbons as grounds for delays.
• Reuters notes that a US Treasury Dept spokesperson said moments ago that G7 and EU allies need to impose "meaningful tariffs" on goods from China/India until the war ends. Another signal that the US admin sees sanctions as primarily a EU responsibility.
• Moreover, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a fourth meeting with Chinese counterpart He Lifeng in Madrid next week. The US is unlikely to authorise secondary sanctions while trade talks are ongoing.
• Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is in Europe spotlighting the EU’s slow phaseout of Russian hydrocarbons (by January 2028. Wright said "I think this could easily be done within 12 months, maybe within six months."
• It is possible the US will continue to slow-walk Russia sanctions until the EU commits more wholly to the framework deal to buy USD$750 billion of US energy products by 2028.