NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued a stern warning on Wednesday to countries continuing trade with Russia, stating they could face significant consequences under looming U.S. secondary sanctions.
His remarks came just a day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian exports if a peace deal in Ukraine is not reached within 50 days.
Addressing reporters during his visit to the U.S. Congress, Rutte urged leaders in Brazil, China, and India to reconsider their economic ties with Moscow.
"My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard," Rutte said.
He added that leaders should directly engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin to push for peace talks, warning, "So please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India, and on China in a massive way."
Rutte's comments follow Trump's announcement of new military support for Ukraine and his proposed punitive tariffs.
While Republican Senator Thom Tillis welcomed the announcement, he expressed unease over the 50-day deadline, suggesting it might give Putin an opportunity to make aggressive territorial gains. "We should look at the current state of Ukraine today and say, no matter what you do over the next 50 days, any of your gains are off the table," Tillis remarked.
Rutte assured that European nations are prepared to fund Ukraine's military needs, reinforcing their commitment to ensuring Kyiv is well-positioned in any future peace negotiations.
Regarding the nature of the aid, Rutte said that the United States would now "massively" provide Ukraine with weapons, including "not just air defense, also missiles, also ammunition paid for by the Europeans."
Asked whether long-range weapons were part of the plan, Rutte said discussions were ongoing: "It is both defensive and offensive. So there's all kinds of weapons, but we have not discussed in detail yesterday with the president. This is really being worked through now by the Pentagon, by the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, together with the Ukrainians."