Trump Says He Will Impose More Sanctions on Russia if NATO Does

President Trump on Saturday set conditions for imposing new sanctions on Russia, saying he would do so only if all NATO member nations did the same and also stopped buying Russian oil and imposed steep tariffs on China.

They were the latest in a series of new conditions that Mr. Trump had announced before he would agree on punitive action against Russia, which has accelerated its aggression against Ukraine despite a summit that Mr. Trump held with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a month ago in Alaska. None of the steps Mr. Trump had said were required to begin an end to the war — including a negotiation between Mr. Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine — have taken place, or appear imminent.

Since then, Russia has tested NATO defenses in new ways. Early Wednesday morning, Russian drones were shot down by Polish and NATO forces after they flew deep into Poland’s airspace, a level of escalation that has alarmed European leaders. Yet Mr. Trump portrayed NATO as not doing enough to combat Russia’s moves. Ten days ago, the Pentagon confirmed that it was planning to end a program that trained and assisted NATO forces in the Baltics, right on Russia’s border.

“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,” Mr. 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?”

He also called for the countries to collectively put tariffs of 50 percent to 100 percent on China. Without that, he said, the NATO nations are “wasting” the United States’ time.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump told European leaders in a phone call that he wanted them to reduce their Russian oil purchases.

The condition is almost certain not to be met, which Mr. Trump and his advisers know. The biggest European purchasers of Russian oil are two countries with autocratic leaders whom Mr. Trump admires, Hungary and Turkey, and they are highly unlikely to stop. Most other European nations have significantly reduced their Russian oil imports. However, some still rely on Russian natural gas, which Mr. Trump did not mention.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly saber-rattled about action against Russia, but left himself a reason to walk away from doing so. His summit with Mr. Putin in Alaska was intended by the Trump administration to pave the way for a bilateral meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky, and then a trilateral meeting with all three leaders. After the Alaska summit, Mr. Trump’s advisers signaled they believed movement toward such a meeting was on the horizon.

Mr. Trump also left that meeting indicating to European leaders that Mr. Putin wouldn’t agree to a cease-fire, which the Europeans have sought in the hopes of using a quiet period to forge a more durable end to the fighting. Since then, Russia has proceeded with deadly strikes on Ukraine.

Asked on Thursday about the Russian drones over Poland, Mr. Trump said, “It could have been a mistake.” When pressed if he condemned the move, he said that he did.

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said on X: “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it.”