Trump Proposes “Ukraine Victory Fund” Backed by Tariffs on China
U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to launch a “Ukraine Victory Fund” that would channel revenue from sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports into military aid for Kyiv.
The Gaze reports this, referring to The Telegraph.
Trump has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to present the plan to European counterparts ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s upcoming visit to Washington.
The Telegraph notes that the proposal aims to impose a 500-percent tariff on Chinese goods, with the proceeds used to finance weapons and defense programs for the Ukrainian military.
The strategy is designed to tighten economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose war machine relies heavily on Chinese support.
Trump’s plan comes as part of a broader effort to link trade policy with geopolitical leverage. U.S. officials describe it as both a deterrent against Beijing’s continued support for Moscow and a mechanism to accelerate Ukraine’s victory on the battlefield.
During a meeting with NATO defense ministers, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was prepared to support Ukraine “in ways available only to the United States” if Russia continued to resist peace efforts.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed this, saying Trump had instructed him “to inform our European allies that we will support what some call the ‘Russian oil tariff’ on China – or the ‘Ukraine Victory Tariff.’"
"But our European and Ukrainian partners must be ready to follow our lead. We will act decisively if our allies join us,” Bessent added.
Diplomatic sources in Washington told The Telegraph that previous proposals to sanction China over its purchases of Russian oil had met resistance from several European governments.
The new fund, if implemented, would represent one of the boldest attempts yet by Washington to combine economic coercion with direct support for Ukraine’s military.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the Trump administration proposed restricting Chinese airlines from flying through Russian airspace on routes to and from the United States, arguing that the practice gives them an unfair competitive edge over American carriers.