NYT: NATO members unlikely to fulfil Trump's request to abandon Russian oil

The United States will not be able to impose the “serious sanctions against Russia” as announced by President Donald Trump, since his demand that NATO abandon Russian oil is unfeasible.

This opinion was expressed by the US newspaper The New York Times (NYT), which recalls that at least two NATO members — Hungary and Türkiye — maintain good relations with Moscow and are eagerly purchasing Russian energy resources.

“I am ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social.

“As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking!” he continued. “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia. Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when?”

The article predicts that the abandonment of Russian oil is "highly unlikely" to happen while noting that some European countries also still rely on Russian natural gas.

The president also called for the countries to collectively impose import tariffs on Chinese goods of 50-100% . Without that, he claims, the NATO nations are “wasting” the United States’ time.

As for Trump himself, NYT emphasized that he has repeatedly spoken in favour of imposing new American restrictions against Russia but has found reasons to avoid fulfilling those promises.

By Nazrin Sadigova