Trump tells Europe to stop buying Russian oil

President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO allies in Europe halt their purchases of Russian oil as the president is mulling new sanctions against Russia as the Ukraine-Russia war continues to rage on. Trump made the comments as he was speaking to reporters on Sunday evening.

"They're not doing the job. NATO has to get together. Europe has to get together," Trump told the press. "Europe… they're my friends, but they're buying oil from Russia, so we can't be expected to be the only ones that are, you know, full bore."

"Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil," he continued and noted that the sanctions on Russia from Europe "are not tough enough." Europe has been importing Russian oil for years, and in 2024, purchased 21.9 billion euros worth, per the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Although the EU has cut down on their supply from Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine, that has not been cut off entirely.

"I'm willing to do sanctions, but they're going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I'm doing," Trump added in his comments to reporters. According to Fox News, countries in Europe such as Hungary, France, Belgium, and Spain have been Europe's top importers of Russian oil. Hungary, although friendly with Putin somewhat, remains in NATO, and has been a chief importer of Russian petroleum.

The comments from Trump come one day after Trump sent a letter to NATO, saying that he is "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."

On Sunday, Trump also called on NATO to impose "50 percent to 100 percent" tariffs on China, and that the tariffs would only be reversed when the war between Russia and Ukraine ends.