Nato chief Mark Rutte on Friday backed US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs on India saying that the measures have already had an impact on the war in Ukraine. Rutte claimed that the tariffs have forced New Delhi to seek explanations from Moscow over its relationship with Russia. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Rutte was asked by CNN on whether Trump would actually impose sanctions, given his history of rolling deadlines. “He already did. We have seen not the big ones, the big one on India,” Rutte said. “Yes, but I’m talking about on Russia. Yeah, but this, this immediately impacts Russia because that means that Delhi is now on the phone with Vladimir, Vladimir with Putin in Moscow and Narendra Modi asking, hey, I support you, but again, could you explain to me this strategy? Because I have now been hit by, by these 50% tariffs by the United States. So President Trump is implementing what he says, but of course, we are not happy that so far we have not been able collectively to end the war. But and he is working on it.”The former Netherlands’ prime minister argued that Trump’s pressure tactics were rattling the Kremlin and creating new strains for President Vladimir Putin. Responding to questions about Trump’s admission that his efforts to reach a ceasefire with Russia were proving tougher than expected, Rutte said: “I think President Trump hit it exactly as he should have by saying the mentioning the paper tiger. And then the Russians coming back yesterday, the whole day saying, no, we are not a paper tiger, we are a bear. Hey, when you see a bear, you know you see a bear. Right? But you will notice posture. Yeah, but it meant means that Russia is insecure and that President Trump was able to hit a nerf, probably at the highest echelons of the Kremlin.”He argued that the war had already put Putin in a weakened position. “He’s lost 1 million people now or seriously wounded in this war. He is now losing in one month what the Soviets lost in 10 years in Afghanistan, only in one month. So this is what’s happening at the moment. And he is not making the progress he wants. He has these long lines waiting for the gasoline stations to fill up the cars with gasoline because the Ukrainians are successful in hitting the oil refineries in Russia. So he’s not in a good place. I think President Trump feels that, and he’s putting pressure on Putin. Come to the table.”Rutte acknowledged that issues of territory and sovereignty remained unresolved, but insisted that only Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could decide what concessions to make. “What we have here is a president really trying to get Putin to the table. And so far, Putin has not played ball. And he wants him to play ball and come there and make compromises and end this terrible war. And there will also be discussions on very sensitive issues, including territory. And both President Trump, myself, we all agree, is up to President Zelensky to discuss territory and make the necessary deals when that moment comes. But at the moment, of course, the problem is that Putin is not there.”Trump, in his own UN address, had directly accused China and India of financing Russia’s war through oil purchases. “China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” he said, while also warning European allies to halt all energy imports from Moscow. He coupled those warnings with new tariffs against India, escalating duties to 50% on 27 August, citing Delhi’s refusal to cut ties with Russian energy.Moscow, for its part, has dismissed Trump’s rhetoric, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejecting the “paper tiger” remark and describing Russia as a bear with stable macroeconomic fundamentals. Go to Source
