European Pressure on China Could Help Bring Ukraine War to an End, Trump Says

U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that Europe could help bring the Russian-Ukrainian war to an end by imposing sanctions or tariffs on China, Moscow’s biggest energy customer.

The Gaze reports this, referring to Trump’s interview with Fox News.

The president U.S. argued that Beijing’s economic leverage over the Kremlin could be decisive if Europe acted against China. 

“China's by far the biggest purchaser of oil from Russia... If European countries imposed sanctions, or tariffs, or whatever you want to call it –  if they did this on China, I think the war might end,” he said. 

Trump added that he is scheduled to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, September 19. “We'll see how that all works,” he told the reporters.

At the same time, Trump did not confirm whether U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with whom he met in London on September 18, supported the idea.

The U.S. president has repeatedly made clear that he expects Europe to stop purchasing Russian oil and gas entirely as a precondition for American sanctions.

During his meeting with Starmer, Trump underscored that Russian energy revenues remain a critical factor in sustaining Moscow’s war effort. Cutting off that income, he suggested, would be one of the keys to forcing the Kremlin to change course.

As The Gaze reported earlier, the expected EU sanctions package, which will be the 19th since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is scheduled to be announced on Friday, September 19.