NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Wednesday that countries such as Brazil, China and India could be hit hard by secondary sanctions if they continue to trade with Russia.
Rutte made the comments during a meeting with senators in the US Congress a day after US President Donald Trump announced new weapons to Ukraine and threatened “fierce” secondary sanctions of 100 percent on buyers of Russian goods if a peace deal is not agreed within 50 days.
“My advice to these three countries, especially if you now live in Beijing, Delhi or are the president of Brazil, you might want to study this, because it could hit you hard,” Rutte told reporters, who met with Trump on Monday and agreed on new steps.
“So call Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about the peace talks, because otherwise it will have a hard impact on Brazil, India or China,” Rutte added.
Republican Senator Tom Tillis praised Trump for announcing those steps, but said he was concerned about the 50-day delay.
He said he was worried that “Putin will use the 50 days to win the war, or better position himself to negotiate a peace deal after more killings or potentially more land being conquered.”
“So we need to look at the current state of Ukraine and say, no matter what you do in the next 50 days, all your progress will not be negotiable,” he added.
Rutte said that Europe will find the money to make sure that Ukraine is in the best possible position for peace talks.
He said that according to the agreement with Trump, the US will now “massively” supply Ukraine with weapons “not only air defense, but also missiles and ammunition paid for by the Europeans.”
When asked if long-range missiles for Ukraine are being discussed, Rute answered: “It is both defensive and offensive. There are various weapons, but we did not discuss them in detail with the president yesterday. This is currently being worked out by the Pentagon, the Supreme Federal Commander in Europe, together with the Ukrainians.
